Multilevel approach needed for robust climate risk management framework: Harsh Vardhan

Risks are pushing vulnerable people, communities and countries to their physical and socio-economic adaptation level, the minister said

A robust climate risk management framework calls for a multilevel approach across the country to determine the impact climate change risks pose, Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Wednesday.

Delivering a special address at a three-day conference on 'S&T Research- Policy-Practice Interface for Climate Risk Management', Vardhan said there has been an increasing trend in the frequency and severity of climate change, causing extreme weather events.

Growing risks are pushing vulnerable people, communities and countries to their physical and socio economic adaptation levels, he said.

There is a need for proper strategies not only to save people from disasters but also to build resilience towards it, educating them about the types and nature of disaster and ways to build resilience are of great importance.

This would need building capacity of the communities to face these disasters, he noted.

"A robust climate risk management framework calls for a multi- level approach across the country (national, sub-national, regional and local) to determine the various climate change risks likely to impact the country while also providing a broad understanding of the loss and damage likely to be caused due to these risks," Vardhan said.

He said science and technology has a critical role to play in climate adaptive planning to help build disaster resilience and sustainability.

Department of Science and Technology (DST) secretary Ashutosh Sharma said climate change is a global problem.

"But per capita emissions (accumulative emissions that drive climate change) in India is less, and we are not part of the problem. However, we need to develop efficient use of technology to be part of the solution," Sharma said.

Vardhan pointed out that the DST has made some major achievements in the implementation of two national missions on climate change as part of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).

Under the two missions, as many as 200 projects of different sizes have been supported which include 15 centres of excellence, 30 major R&D programmes, 14 network programmes which comprise nearly 100 projects, six task forces.

During the last six years, as many as 1,500 research papers in high impact factor journals were published.

Over 100 new techniques have been developed and nearly 50,000 people are trained as part of these missions. More than 1,200 scientists and students are working in these mission projects, he said.

He pointed out that according to a survey made by independent agencies like Globe Scan and National Geographics for 18 countries in the world, India ranks first in terms of a parameter called Greendex which is a measure of sustainability and lifestyle.

"Despite so much contribution to sustainability and the environment, India is one of the worst impacted countries in the world in terms of extreme events,” he said.

India is among a few countries which witness almost all types of disasters like earthquakes, tropical cyclones, floods, tsunamis, thunder storms, hail storms, lightning, heat waves, he said.

Vardhan said improved warning systems have greatly helped reducing loss of lives but the loss of property continues to increase as more and more infrastructure due to economic development is getting exposed to disasters.

The conference was organised by the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), Ministry of Home Affairs and DST in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.