Adaptation and Risk Analysis

The theme of the International Day for Biological Diversity 2021 is “We’re part of the solution”. This carries forward the momentum generated last year with the theme “Our solutions are in nature”. Nature-based solutions, comprising blue infrastructure such as wetlands, floodplains, rivers, canals, ponds, and water treatment facilities and green infrastructure such as forests, trees, lawns, parks, and fields have gained attention in recent years.

Changes in the timing and magnitude of rainfall can put a severe strain on agriculture. Additionally, an increase in extreme climate events such as heavy rainfall and dry spells can also affect agriculture. In Karnataka, agriculture is the key contributor to the state’s economy. However, agricultural productivity in the state is hampered by the availability of irrigation (only 31.2% of the land is irrigated) and variability in rainfall distribution.

Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme a large social security programme being implemented in India, with an average annual investment of US$ 7 billion. The bulk of the activities under this programme are focused on natural resources such as land, water and trees, which provide adaptation benefits. In this study an attempt is made to estimate the carbon sequestration achieved and future potential, as a co-benefit, from MGNREGS. 

Climate resilience is the ability to anticipate, absorb, accommodate, and recover from the effects of a potentially hazardous event. The benefits of resilient power infrastructure are much greater than the costs, considering growing climate change events. It is estimated that for every dollar invested in climate resilient infrastructure, six dollars can be saved. According to the World Bank, if the actions needed for resilience are delayed by ten years, the cost will almost double.

India is one of the few countries where environment education is compulsory at all levels of formal education. The concepts introduced at school are centred on the need to conserve for future generations, halt resource depletion, reduce pollution, and protect wildlife, with very limited focus on the effects of greenhouse gases, impacts of chlorofluorocarbons, and other topics of immediate concern.

Power infrastructure, which includes assets for generation, transmission, and distribution of power, is vulnerable to manifestations of climate change. Data from the International Disasters Database shows that during 1998–2017, India experienced an average of 16 extreme weather events resulting in a total economic loss of USD 45 billion, compared to an average of 10 events during 1978–97 with USD 20 billion in losses. Extreme weather events in the last two decades have resulted in loss of lives, decreased agricultural productivity, and infrastructure damage.

Riding on its vision of an Atmanirbhar Bharat, the government of India recently announced a slew of projects in the budget to reboot the economy, which went slack because of COVID. These projects, including the National Infrastructure Pipeline to 7,400 projects, the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), and Smart Cities Mission, offer an opportunity to mainstream climate risks and nature-based solutions (NbS) into infrastructure.

In 2018, a group of academic institutions initiated a project to build capacities of the 12 Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) states through robust assessments of climate change vulnerability, adaptation planning, and implementation. A standardised assessment of vulnerability allows stakeholders to compare vulnerability across states, probe what has caused their vulnerability, and investigate how they might address these vulnerabilities.