Cross-sectional Approaches for Mitigation and Resilience
Ahead of the Conference of Parties (COP-26) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) beginning from 30th October 2021, a three-day virtual national stakeholder consultation on “Advancing Frontiers of Knowledge on Climate Action: Cross-sectional Approaches for Mitigation and Resilience” was organised by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ India) in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Gandhinagar and the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC) Bengaluru on 20th October and 22-23rd October, 2021.
The consultation was conducted with an intent to share and strengthen research and technical knowledge in climate change mitigation and resilience by sharing the recommendation from five research studies that offer unique insights to support India’s NDC Goal planning and implementation. The studies were commissioned by GIZ India in partnership with the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Govt. of India and five Indian institutions namely, IIT-Bombay, IIT-Gandhinagar, IIM-Ahmedabad, Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), and Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC).
The study on understanding the water-food-energy nexus in the Indo-Gangetic plain, conducted by the IIT-B has developed a multi-objective optimisation model, to maximise crop diversity, maximise farmer’s income, maximise kcal production and minimise water use. The study, undertaken by IIM-A, explores the Potential of Peri-urban Agriculture. The study has offered the necessity to formulate appropriate formal policies and market-based interventions towards promoting peri-urban agriculture in India at various levels of governance.
ISEC conducted a study on Sustainable consumption pathways by analysing individual household carbon footprints. The study highlighted that popularising traditional sustainable lifestyles and the concept of self-reliant landscapes, and production systems through circular economy should be aggressively taken up for household emission reduction.
Further two studies conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar (IIT-Gn) on mainstreaming climate-resilient infrastructure and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on Transport modal shift from road to rail, shed light on the vulnerability of transport infrastructure to climate hazards and GHG emissions from road transport respectively. The studies proposed a modal shift from road to rail transport, along with the incorporation of climate resilience in road transport infrastructure to provide long term benefits of sustainable transport to the Indian public.
The consultation has brought out the need for a strong and structured institutional approach as a prerequisite in catering climate science knowledge combined with socio-economic aspects in advancing the frontiers of climate change in the present scenario. The Department of Science and Technology (DST) endorsed the need for such discussion and dissemination to streamline climate change knowledge and to advance climate research.
The seminar saw participation from a large audience, including eminent academicians, policymakers, private sector representatives, as well as civil society. Suggestions and comments were addressed in the panel discussion and the recommendations resulting from the seminar have been incorporated into a briefing document.
The studies were conducted under the Indo-German bilateral cooperation project on “Supporting the Institutionalisation of Capacities on Climate Change Studies and Actions (ICCC)” commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and being implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
[author title=”Meghana Kshirsagar and Ashwin A.S. work with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on issues of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources Management.” image=”http://”][/author]
