National Mission for Green India / National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture

This mission aims to increase forest cover across the country to serve as carbon sinks removing green house has been released by the government. The mission aims at increasing green house gas removal by India’s forest to 6.35% of the country’s total emissions by 2020. It aims to reach national target of 33% land area under forest and from the current level of 23%. Under CAMPA (compensatory afforestation fund management and planning Authority) it was planned to increase the forest area in India by 10 million ha till 2020.

Recognizing that climate change phenomena will seriously affect and alter the distribution, type and quality of natural resources of the country and the associated livelihoods of the people, the mission aims at addressing climate change by enhancing carbon sinks, adaptation of vulnerable species and forest dependent local communities in the face of climatic variability.

This will be done through increasing and restoring the forest cover all over the country. It also aims at monitoring additional parameters like ground cover, soil condition, erosion and infiltration, run off, ground water levels to develop water budgets as well as biomass monitoring indicators. Gram Sabha and its various committees would be strengthened as institutions of decentralized forest governance.

National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture-

This mission would devise strategies to make India agriculture more resilient to climate change. It would identify and develop new varieties of crops and especially thermal resistant crops and alternative cropping pattern, capable of withstanding extremes of weather, long dry spells, flooding and variable moisture availability. Agricultural will need to be progressively adapted to projected climate change and our agricultural research systems must be oriented to monitor and evaluate climate change and recommend changes in agricultural practices accordingly.

This will be supported by the convergence and integration of traditional knowledge and practice system, information technology, geo-spatial technology and bio-technology. New credit and insurance mechanisms will be devised to facilitate adoption of desired practices. Focus would be on improving productivity of rain fed agriculture. India will spearhead efforts at the international level to work towards an ecologically sustainable green revolution.

National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate change

To enlist the global community in research and technology development and collaboration through mechanisms including open source platform, a strategic knowledge Mission is to be setup to identify the challenges of , and the responses to, climate change.

It would ensure funding of high quality and focused research into various aspects of climate change. The Mission will also have, on its research, socio- economic impacts of climate change including impact on health, demography, migration patterns and livelihoods of coastal communities.

It would also support the establishment of dedicated climate related academic units in universities and other academic and scientific institutions in the country which would be networked. A climate Science research Fund would be created under the Mission to support research. Private sector initiatives for development of innovative technologies for adaptation and mitigation would be encouraged through venture capital funds.

Research to support policy and implementation would be undertaken through identified centres. The Mission will also focus on dissemination of new knowledge based on research findings.

As part of international obligation under UNFCCC , India prepares periodically the national communication (NATCOM) that gives an inventory of GHGs emission in India and assesses vulnerability and impacts an makes appropriate recommendations regarding social economic and technological measures for addressing recommendations regarding social, economic and technology measures for addressing climate change.

India has participated effectively in clean development mechanism (CDM) which his designed to help developed countries is meeting their emission to reduce targets while contributing to sustainable developing countries through purchase of certified emission reduction certificates from developing countries by the developed countries. Gol set up national CDM authority in December, 2003 with its office in Ministry of Environment and Forests. The national CDM authority evaluates and recommends CDM projects.

India has vital stake in the success of climate summit negotiation as being one of the principle victim of climate change. It is predicted India may suffer floods droughts and other extreme weather events with great intensity than at present and also leading to large scale displacement of people in coastal areas creating climate refugees, and also even lead to drastic reduction in crop yield. Therefore India’s primary focus is also on adaption to the consequences of climate change for which India’s spending 2 to 2.5% of its GDP annually on meeting the consequences of extreme climatic conditions and calamities.

Thus on the principle that the polluter pays, the developed countries have a higher differentiated responsibility to cut back on the harmful GHG emission. As long as this is recognized and accepted the people of India will not be found waiting in fulfilling their role as responsible global citizen.