| Introduction: Contextual introduction. Body: Explain findings of IPCC report on India. Conclusion: Write a way forward. |
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its final report of the sixth assessment cycle, titled “AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2023”. According to the report, India is among the countries that face the highest risk from climate change’s impact, ranging from heat waves to cyclones and urban and rural displacement. The report also echoes the Prime Minister’s vision for “LiFE” or Lifestyle for Environment.
Findings of IPCC report on India:
- India has large informal sectors and outdoor workers in various economic activities. It is important to note the evidence of observed extremes of heatwaves, heavy precipitation, droughts and tropical cyclones, and the chances of extreme compound events in terms of intensity and frequency.
- The historical burden of inequity in India’s process of development has been on the poor and marginalised, with some policies partly addressing these issues, in the past 70 years. The report calls for renewed attention and new policy design given the additional vulnerabilities of climate change, yet protecting the rights of the poor and marginalized communities.
- The report highlights the importance of prioritising fairness, climate justice, inclusivity, respect for divergent worldviews, and sharing knowledge for transformative change. Prioritising these shared values and inclusivity is crucial to achieving sustainable climate action.
- In India, public consultation process in development projects needs to be revisited to include those changes that successfully shift development to sustainable models.
- India is the hotbed of global climate investment, but it needs to distribute equally to adaptation, along with mitigation efforts in the clean energy space.
- India has policies for insurance, social protection and safety nets that can reduce vulnerability and exposure. However, innovation and adoption of low-emission technologies lag due to limited finance and technology transfer.
India must act urgently on ways to decarbonise the energy supply sector and reduce the burden on it. The sector must meet the ever-increasing demand by managing wasteful energy-use through regulatory, market-based, and non-market-based policies and redistributive policy packages and retraining of people.
