NATIONAL SYMPOSIUM on Climate Change Adaptation in Rural Areas of India

Venue: New Delhi, India

Date: 14 -15 October, 2014

A Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) collaborative, Climate Change Adaptation in Rural Areas of India (CCA-RAI) project is executed by the German development cooperation agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. It is one of the first ever bilateral projects on climate change adaptation worldwide. Aligned with the Indian National Action Plan on Climate Change, CCA-RAI was conceptualized to enhance the adaptive capacities of climate-vulnerable rural communities of India.

This symposium marks the successful completion of the first phase of this project. It seeks to share experiences from the five years of project implementation, to reflect on the key learnings and to deliberate on the future of climate change adaptation in India. The event will bring together a range of stakeholders spanning the government, multilateral & bilateral agencies, NGOs, think tank/ academia and the civil society.

ACHIEVEMENTS

CCA-RAI supported the preparation of State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) for 16 states and two Union Territories (18 in all); 11 have been endorsed by the Ministry so far. Nine demonstration projects addressing a range of local issues were implemented in the four partner states namely Madhya Pradesh (MP), Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu (TN) and West Bengal (WB). These ranged from integrated production systems, introduction of salt-tolerant rice varieties and disaster preparation in WB, to dune stabilization and improved pasture management in Rajasthan, from eco–restoration, institutional strengthening and climate-resilient fish farming in MP, to integrated mangrove fisheries and coastal habitat rehabilitation in TN.

The framework for assessing climate change vulnerability and risks and climate-proofing of national schemes provide important lessons for practitioners. Various training and capacity building programs of CCA-RAI helped to integrate adaptation into development planning.