National Action Plan on Climate Change

National Action Plan on Climate Change

Released in 2008 to addressing climate mitigation and adaptation.
The plan identifies eight core “national missions”
Emphasising the overriding priority of maintaining high economic growth rates to raise living standards, the plan “identifies measures that promote our development objectives while also yielding co-benefits for addressing climate change effectively.”

It is India’s strategy to help the country adapt to climate change, to transition into a development pathway that is sustainable and to make a contribution towards the global challenge as a responsible member of the international community.

Principles underlying NAPCC

An inclusive and sustainable development strategy that protects the poor and vulnerable sections of society
Balancing growth objectives with ecological sustainability.
Devising strategies for end use Demand-side Management
Accelerated adoption of technologies for mitigating GHG emissions
Promoting sustainable development through a new market, regulatory and voluntary mechanisms
Achieving Implementation efficiency through engagements with civil society.
Collaborating internationally for research and development, sharing and transfer of technology

Eight National Missions form the core of Climate Action Plan which hinge on technology adoption, implementation through an institutional mechanism, improved understanding of climate change, adaptation and mitigation, conservation and improved efficiency.

EIGHT MISSIONS UNDER NAPCC

1.National Solar Mission

The Mission was launched with the objective of increasing the share of solar energy in the total energy mix, utilizing the existing solar energy potential in India given its tropical location. Most parts of India experience clear sunny weather for 250 – 300 days a year. Average solar radiation incident over India is 5.5 KWh/m^2. Solar energy also has the potential to empower people at the grassroots level since it permits decentralized generation. The mission seeks to create policy conditions to facilitate diffusion of solar technologies throughout the country. For this, it adopts a three-phased approach to secure its twin objectives a. Long-term Energy security and b. Ecological Security.

Mission Targets include

Enabling deployment of 20,000 MW of solar power capacity by 2022. This target was later revised upwards to 1,00,000 MW or 100 GW with 40 GW of solar rooftop and 60 GW of grid-connected solar power projects. The new target will help in abating over 170 mt of CO2.
Facilitating the creation of solar manufacturing capability
Promotion of off-grid solar applications, expansion of solar collector area and deployment of solar lighting systems in rural areas.

2. National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency

NMEEE sought to establish a policy regime that facilitates energy efficiency through innovative models, the creation of a market for energy efficient systems, financial mechanisms etc. It must be noted that the legal framework for adoption of energy efficiency measures was provided in the Energy Conservation Act 2001, which institutionalized adoption of efficient energy systems under Bureau of Energy Efficiency.

Four Initiatives under this mission were

Perform Achieve Trade (PAT) Provided for certification of energy savings for energy-intensive industries, which could be traded. This was thus a market mechanism to promote energy efficiency
Market Transformation for Energy Efficiency Sought to facilitate the adoption of energy efficient appliances by making them affordable.
Energy Efficiency Financing Platform Aimed at financing demand side management programs by capturing future energy savings
Framework for Energy Efficient Economic development Developing fiscal tools for promoting energy efficiency.

3. National Mission on Sustainable Habitat

This was aimed at making the habitat more sustainable by making sustainability and energy efficiency an integral part of urban planning. This was to be done by –

Promoting energy efficient buildings
Improving waste management
Transiting to public transports
Improving the resilience of infrastructure to climate change, facilitating community-based disaster management, improved disaster warning systems.

Three major initiatives under NMSA include

Energy Conservation Building Code for optimal energy utilization in commercial buildings.
Recycling of urban waste developing technologies to enable conversion of waste to energy, reuse of wastewater etc.
Better urban planning and modal shift to public transport.

4. National Water Mission

The mission sought to enable integrated water resource management with a view to conserve water, minimize wastage and ensure equitable distribution across and within states.

It sought to improve water use efficiency by 20 %.
It mooted the concept of differential entitlements and pricing.
Urban water demand was to be met through wastewater recycling to a considerable extent.
For coastal areas, adoption of technologies like low-temperature desalination was to be promoted for meeting water demand
To meet the challenge of climate change and ensuing water stress, the mission stressed on enhancing storage capacity, rainwater harvesting and promotion of drip and sprinkler irrigation.

5. National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem

The mission sought to address the glacier retreat in the Himalayan region, acknowledging its importance for India as a source of its perennial rivers. An observation and monitoring network was to be established for continuous assessment of the health of the Himalayan ecosystem.

Major Objectives of the mission include

Building Human and institutional capacities to understand and address climate change
Developing a database with the cooperation of neighbouring countries and networking knowledge on Himalayan ecosystem
Detecting environmental changes and projecting their future impact
Designing appropriate growth strategies for the Himalayan region
Incorporating traditional knowledge systems
Creating awareness among stakeholders.

6. National Mission for a Green India

The mission sought to create additional carbon sinks by increasing forest cover. The national target of the area under forest cover is 33% while currently, the area under forest is 23%. The mission sought to enhance this area.

Major Objectives and Targets under the Mission are:

Increased forest cover and improved quality of forest cover on a total land area of 10 million hectare
Enhanced annual CO2 sequestration by 50-60 mt in 2020.
Restoration of cold deserts, mangroves, wetlands, ravines and abandoned mines
Improved tree cover in urban and peri-urban areas, on marginal agricultural and non-forest areas through social forestry, agroforestry
Community-based forest management
Promoting adoption of alternative fuels and improving fuel-wood use efficiency
Diversification of forest-based livelihood of people dwelling around forests.

Detailed article on National Mission for a Green India

7. National Mission For Sustainable Agriculture

The mission aims at making Agriculture in India climate resilient by developing new crop varieties, integration of traditional knowledge, geo-spatial technology and biotechnology, improving the productivity of rain fed areas through an ecologically sustainable green revolution.

Ten Key Dimensions identified under NMSA for adaptation and mitigation include

Improved crop seeds, livestock and fish culture
Water Efficiency
Pest Management
Improved Farm practices
Nutrient management
Agricultural Insurance
Credit support
Markets
Access to Information
Livelihood diversification

8. National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change

In order to identify the challenges of climate change and responses thereto, the Strategic Knowledge mission seeks to enlist global collaboration through the mechanism of open source platforms. The mission will focus research on the socio-economic impact of climate change including the impact on health, demography, migration patterns etc. It sought to support the creation of dedicated institutions for studying climate change. A Climate Science Research Fund was to be created under the mission to finance research.

Mission objectives include

Formation of knowledge networks among existing institutions
Establishing technology watch groups to help in the selection of technologies for sustainable development
Developing National capacity for assessing climate change impact locally
Promoting research in the field of climate change impact
Creating institutional capacity for climate change research
Fostering global collaboration in the field of climate change research and technology development.

The missions were institutionalized by respective ministries. The missions were planned, monitored and evaluated by the Prime Minister s Council on Climate Change. Together, these Eight Missions aimed to prepare India for bracing the climate change challenge.

Other Programs of NAPCC

The NAPCC also describes other ongoing initiatives, including:

1. Power Generation: The government is mandating the retirement of inefficient coal-fired power plants and supporting the research and development of IGCC and supercritical technologies.

2. Renewable Energy: Under the Electricity Act 2003 and the National Tariff Policy 2006, the central and the state electricity regulatory commissions must purchase a certain percentage of grid-based power from renewable sources.

3. Energy Efficiency: Under the Energy Conservation Act 2001, large energy-consuming industries are required to undertake energy audits and an energy labelling program for appliances has been introduced.