Generate QR code
Open Access
Subscription Access
Adaptation to Climate Change: General, Sectoral and Regional Measures (the Case of India)
https://doi.org/10.31857/S2587556624030127
EDN: SNRITN
Abstract
Adaptation to climate change is the most important part of modern climate policy. It is particularly relevant for developing countries, which are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and have limited capacity to adapt to these impacts. The purpose of this article is to review the achievements and challenges of adaptation to climate change using the IPCC methodology, taking India, one of the world’s largest developing countries, as an example. The country is increasingly confronted with the impacts of global climate change and is responding proactively. Based on material from the IPCC, developments from other international organisations and Russian studies, the main methodological approaches to assessing adaptation to climate change and their evolution are considered. The main sources for India are government documents, national communications to the IPCC, state programmes and action plans on adaptation, scientific publications, media reports and statistics. On this basis, the following issues are characterised: (1) the impacts of observed and projected climate change on India’s population and natural and economic systems; (2) the vulnerability of life-supporting systems and sectors, with a focus on agriculture; (3) the main types of adaptation, including structural, social and institutional. It shows that the system for responding to the emerging challenges of climate change is being built from the top down, through strategic planning at the national and state levels. The country is implementing one of the basic principles of adaptation – the ‘co-benefits’ approach, where socioeconomic development goals are aligned with the climate agenda, thereby protecting the most vulnerable. Adaptation is considered a priority of climate policy in India, given the country’s lower per capita contribution to global warming than economically developed countries.
Keywords
Supporting agencies: The study was prepared within the framework of the State Assignment no. 121040100322-8 of the Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University and the Program of the Interdisciplinary Scientific and Educational School of Lomonosov Moscow State University “The future of the planet and global environmental change.”
About the Authors
N. N. Alekseeva
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Moscow
A. I. Bancheva
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Moscow
References
1. Adaptation Needs and Options. In Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part A: Global and Sectoral Aspects. Contribution of WG II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC. Cambridge: CUP, 2014, pp. 833–868.
2. Adaptation to Climate Change in the Context of Sustainable Development and Equity. In Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Working Group II Contribution to the Third Assessment Report of the IPCC. Cambridge: CUP, 2001, pp. 877–912.
3. Asia. Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part B: Regional Aspects. Contribution of WG II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC. Cambridge, New York: CUP, 2014, pp. 1327–1370.
4. Asia. Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCС. Cambridge, New York: CUP, 2022, pp. 1457–1579.
5. Assessment of Climate Change over the Indian Region. A Report of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. Springer Open, 2020. 227 p. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4327-2
6. Bahadur A., Gogoi E., Rumbaitis del Rio C. Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change within Governance Systems in South Asia. ACT. Action on climate today. Oxford Policy Management, 2017. 36 p.
7. Bahinipatia C.S., Guptab A.K. Methodological challenges in assessing loss and damage from climate-related extreme events and slow onset disasters: Evidence from India. Int. J. Disaster Risk Sci., 2022, vol. 83, art. 10341821.
8. Benzie M., Carter T.R., Carlsen H., Taylor R. Cross- border climate change impacts: implications for the European Union. Reg. Environ. Change, 2019, vol. 19, pp. 763–776.
9. Burck J., Uhlich T., Höhne N., Nascimento L., Bals C. The Climate Change Performance Index 2023: Results. Bonn, 2022. 32 p.
10. Das M. Vulnerability to food insecurity: A decomposition exercise for rural India using the expected utility approach. Soc. Indic. Res., 2021, vol. 156, pp. 167–199. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-021-02625-7
11. Delaney J.T., Bouska K.L., Eash J.D., Heglund P. J., Allstadt A.J. Mapping climate change vulnerability of aquatic-riparian ecosystems using decision-relevant indicators. Ecol. Indic., 2021, vol. 125, art. 107581. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107581
12. Dinshaw A., Ginoya N., Preethan P., Appadurai N., Gutierrez M. Mainstreaming Adaptation in Action: Case Studies from Two States in India. Working Paper. Washington: World Resources Institute, 2018. 26 p.
13. Ford J.D., Berrang-Ford L., Bunce A., McKay C., Irwin M., Pearce T. The status of climate change adaptation in Africa and Asia. Reg. Environ. Change, 2015, vol. 15, pp. 801–814. https://doi.org/10.10d07/s10113-014-0648-2
14. Gosain A.K., Rao S. Climate Impacts and Vulnerability Assessment of the Water Sector in the State of Punjab. Executive Summary. New Delhi, 2018. 25 p.
15. India Multidimensional Poverty Index. A Progress Review. New Delhi: NITY Ayog., 2023. 410 p.
16. India Second National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. New Delhi, 2012. 340 p.
17. IPCC. Climate Change 2014. Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working groups I, II and III to the Fifths Assessment Report of IPCC. Geneva, 2014в. 151 p.
18. IPCC. Сlimate Change and Land. IPCC Special Report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems, 2019. 684 p.
19. IPCC. Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation. A Special Report of Working Groups I and II of the IPCC. Cambridge, New York: CUP, 2012. 582 p.
20. Kokorin A.O., Kuraev S.N., Minin A.A., Stetsenko A.V. Challenges in climate change adaptation. In Prirodopol’zovanie i ustoichivoe razvitie. Mirovye ekosistemy i problemy Rossii [Nature Management and Sustainable Development. Global Ecosystems and Russia’s Challenges]. Moscow: KMK Publ., 2006, pp. 135–145. (In Russ.).
21. Kumar S.N., Aggarwal P.K., Swaroopa R.D.N., Saxena R., Chauhan N., Jain S. Vulnerability of wheat production to climate change in India. Clim. Res., 2014, vol. 59, no. 3, pp. 173–187. https://doi.org/10.3354/cr01212
22. Lebling K., Ge M., Levin K., Waite R., Friedrich J., Elliott C., Chan C., Ross K., Stolle F., Harris N. State of Climate action. Assessing Progress toward 2030 and 2050. World Resources Institute, 2020. 128 p.
23. Mokhov I.I. Climate change: Causes, risks, consequences, and problems of adaptation and regulation. Her. Russ. Acad. Sci., 2022, vol. 92, no. 1, pp. 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1134/S101933162201004X
24. Moss R.H., Brenkert A.L., Malone E.L. Vulnerability to Climate Change: A Quantitative Approach. Technical Report by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for the Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, and U.S. Department of Commerce. Springfield, 2001. 70 p.
25. National climate change vulnerability and risk assessments in Europe. EEA Report, no. 1, 2018. 84 р.
26. Odisha State Action Plan on Climate Change (for the period 2018–2023). Government of Odisha, Forest and Environment Department, 2018. 217 p.
27. Papathoma-Köhle M., Schlögl M., Fuchs S. Vulnerability indicators for natural hazards: an innovative selection and weighting approach. Sci. Rep., 2019, vol. 9, art. 15026. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-50257-2
28. Patra J. Review of current and planned adaptation action in India. CARIAA Working Paper 10. Ottawa, London: International Development Research Centre, 2016. 80 p.
29. Patt A.G., Tadross M., Nussbaumer P., Brundrit G. Estimating least-developed countries’ vulnerability to climate-related extreme events over the next 50 years. Soc. Sci., 2010, vol. 107, no. 4, pp. 1333–1337. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0910253107
30. Pradhan A., Chan C., Roul P. K., Halbrendt J., Sipes B. Potential of conservation agriculture for climate change adaptation and food security under rainfed uplands of India: A transdisciplinary approach. Agric. Syst., 2018, vol. 163, pp. 27–35.
31. Sdasyuk G.V. Novaya Indiya. Geografiya razvitiya: dostizheniya, problemy, perspektivy [New India. Development Geography: Achievements, Problems, Perspective]. Moscow: Kanon+ Publ., 2021. 520 p.
32. Sharma T., Vittal H., Karmakar S., Ghosh S. Increasing agricultural risk to hydro-climatic extremes in India. Environ. Res. Lett., 2020, vol. 15, art. 034010.
33. Simpson N.P., Williams P.A., Mach K.J., et al. Adaptation to compound climate risks: A systematic global stocktake. iScience, 2023, vol. 26, no. 2, art. 105926.
34. Singh P.K., Chudasama H. Pathways for climate change adaptations in arid and semi-arid regions. J. Clean. Prod., 2021, vol. 284, art. 124744.
35. Singh C., Madhavan M., Arvind J., Bazaz A. Climate change adaptation in Indian cities: A review of existing actions and spaces for triple wins. Urban Clim., 2021, vol. 36, art. 100783.
36. Singh С., Rahman А., Srinivas А., Bazaz А. Risks and responses in rural India: Implications for local climate change adaptation action. Clim. Risk Manag., 2021, vol. 21, pp. 52–68.
37. Sud R., Mishra A., Varma N., Bhadwal S. Adaptation policy and practice in densely populated glacier-fed river basins of South Asia: a systematic review. Reg. Environ. Change, 2015, vol. 15, pp. 825–836.
38. Summary for policymakers. In Climate Change 2022. Impacts, adaptation and Vulnerability. IPCC WGII Sixth Assessment Report. Cambridge: CUP, 2022, pp. 37–118. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009325844.002
39. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World. 2023. Rome: FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, WHO, 2023. 316 р.
40. World Development Report 2010: Development in a Changing Climate – Concept Note. Washington: IBRD, WB, 2010. 43 p.
Review
For citations:
Alekseeva N.N., Bancheva A.I. Adaptation to Climate Change: General, Sectoral and Regional Measures (the Case of India). Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk. Seriya Geograficheskaya. 2024;88(3):416-427. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31857/S2587556624030127. EDN: SNRITN
Views:
61
Email this article 
