India, Harvard Univ to organise joint conference on climate adaptation strategy
The Union environment ministry said the insights from the conference will contribute to shaping India’s upcoming National Adaptation Plan
New Delhi: The Union environment ministry and two institutes at Harvard University will organise a four-day conference starting March 19 titled: ‘India 2047: Building a Climate-Resilient Future.’ Insights from the conference will contribute to shaping India’s upcoming National Adaptation Plan, the ministry said in a statement on Monday.
The Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute and the Salata Institute For Climate and Sustainability at the Harvard University, USA are the organising partners for the event.
“This event will serve to identify the key challenges in adaptation and fine tune India’s response in terms of policies, programmes and action at the field level geared towards a climate-resilient India@2047,” the statement added.
Suman Bery, vice chairperson, NITI Aayog and environment minister for state, Kirti Vardhan Singh will attend the conference. The event would also be addressed by speakers from the Centre, academia, research institutions, private sector and the Harvard University. Notable amongst them are Prof Tarun Khanna, director, The Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute; Jorge Paulo Lemann, professor at the Harvard Business School; Prof Jim Stock, vice provost for Climate and Sustainability at Harvard University, Prof Daniel P. Schrag, professor of Environmental Science and Engineering at Harvard University, amongst others.
The conference will have multiple breakout sessions with several technical sessions focusing on adaptation and resilience under the following themes: (i) climate science and its implications on water and agriculture, (ii) health, (iii) work, and (iv) built environment.
The theme on climate science and its implications on agriculture and water will explore the scientific, policy, and practical dimensions of adapting to heatwaves, changing monsoon patterns, and water distribution issues.
The theme on health convenes leading health professionals and health system experts, from India and the world to address essential questions on the impact of heat. The theme on work will focus on impact of climate change on labour productivity and the theme on built environment seeks to examine how built environment should be prepared for rising temperatures over the coming decades.
There will be several crosscutting issues across these themes, such as governance, traditional knowledge, livelihood and skilling, gender, and financing. The workshops aim to generate tangible outputs such as research papers, technical documents, and policy briefs, as agreed upon by participants to contribute scientific evidence to global initiatives. This event will be a special opportunity to discuss adaptation and resilience to climate change amongst a receptive and influential audience in a location where this issue is an immediate concern,” the statement said.
HT had reported on January 31 that India will prioritise climate adaptation efforts to safeguard its rapid economic expansion, even as decreasing global financial commitments for climate action may force developing nations to rework their targets, according to the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament.
The survey highlighted that India’s adaptation expenditure rose to 5.6% of GDP in FY22 from 3.7% in FY16, underscoring the growing focus on building resilience against climate impacts as the country pursues its goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047.
“In India’s case, most capacity additions to coal-fired power plants were made only in the 2010s. There is no valid economic rationale for shutting down coal plants, leaving huge investments underutilised and stranded and without a dependable alternative in place,” the survey had stated.
The document criticised developed nations’ recent actions that prioritised energy security over climate goals.