Climate adaptation is a dynamic and complex process. This includes risk assessment, adaptation planning, implementation, and monitoring at different scales. Adaptation strategies vary according to specific types of climate hazards, geographical scales, and time frames. However, limited knowledge while dealing with several uncertainties is a major challenge. CSTEP's scientific strategies can help policymakers design and prioritise adaptation measures to meet our climate agenda.

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Adaptation and Risk Analysis
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Adaptation and Risk Analysis
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Adaptation and Risk Analysis
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Building Resilience in Power Sector

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’s 24 cr school students need to be green-jobs ready. Give them climate literacy

 

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.

Climate Risk Profile for Power Sector in Karnataka

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.

Climate change: How infrastructure can weather the storm

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.

How Vulnerable Are India’s Himalayan Region States to Climate Change?

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.

Agroforestry to Achieve Global Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Targets: Are South Asian Countries Sufficiently Prepared?

Traditional agroforestry systems across South Asia have historically supported millions of smallholding farmers. Since, 2007 agroforestry has received attention in global climate discussions for its carbon sink potential. Agroforestry plays a defining role in offsetting greenhouse gases, providing sustainable livelihoods, localizing Sustainable Development Goals and achieving biodiversity targets. The review explores evidence of agroforestry systems for human well-being along with its climate adaptation and mitigation potential for South Asia.

A climate-resilient rainfed agriculture

India has been witnessing variable monsoon for the past few years. The last year was marked by surplus rain in June, deficit rain in July, and surplus rain in August and September, as reported by the Ministry of Earth Sciences. This inconsistency in the monsoon rainfall pattern is an indication that extreme weather events might become the norm, rather than the exception, in the coming years. The Global Climate Risk Index 2020, released recently, puts India seventh in the list of countries worst hit by extreme events.

Climate Change Risks to Rainfed Agriculture in Karnataka: Implications for Building Resilience

Climate change increases strain on agriculture systems through changes in the magnitude, distribution, and timing of rainfall; rise in temperature; and an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events. In Karnataka, agriculture is the key contributing sector for the state’s economy. Despite its importance, agriculture in the state is limited by the availability of irrigation (only 31.2%) and uncertainty in rainfall distribution. These factors greatly hamper the agricultural productivity of the state.