A people-led climate intelligence movement

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 3 –Environment

Introduction

Climate action now depends on how well countries track what is happening on the ground. Monitoring, reporting and verification systems shape climate transparency, finance access, and trust. Yet most systems remain distant from people who face climate impacts daily. A people-led climate intelligence movement seeks to correct this gap by placing communities at the centre of climate data, decision-making, and governance, while strengthening national and global climate commitments.

What is MRV?

Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) is a multi-step process used to measure how much greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by a specific mitigation activity over a period of time. These results are then reported to an accredited third party. The third party verifies the report so the results can be certified and carbon credits can be issued..

Significance of MRV

1. Tracking climate commitments: MRV allows governments to show measurable progress on mitigation, adaptation, and finance goals. It helps link policies and actions with actual climate outcomes.
2. Access to climate finance: Strong MRV systems are necessary to unlock climate finance and results-based payments. Reliable data builds confidence among funders and international partners.
3. Ensuring accountability and trust: MRV improves credibility by using verifiable data rather than claims. This supports transparency at national and international levels.

What is CbMRV?

• Community-based MRV (CbMRV) allows villages to generate systematic and science-ready environmental data. It values local observation as a formal source of climate intelligence.
• Blending knowledge systems: CbMRV combines traditional ecological knowledge with field-based monitoring of rainfall, temperature, soil, water, biodiversity, fisheries, crops, livelihoods, and carbon stocks. This creates a fuller picture of climate change at local scales.
• From data collection to governance: Community-generated data feeds into a digital dashboard used at village, district, and State levels. This shifts governance from a top-down model to a shared partnership.

About Tamil Nadu’s CbMRV

Origin and purpose

Tamil Nadu’s community-based environmental MRV (CbMRV) was started in 2023 under the UK PACT programme to pilot a community-based MRV system that could support just transition goals. It was developed with Keystone Foundation and other scientific partners in three pilot landscapes: Aracode (Nilgiris), Vellode (Erode), and Killai (Cuddalore).

Significance

1. Brings local climate signals into governance: It makes community observations a formal part of climate decision-making, instead of relying only on coarse datasets.
2. Creates science-ready village data: Villages generate systematic data on rainfall, temperature, soil and water health, biodiversity, fish catch, cropping patterns, livelihoods, and carbon stocks and emissions.
3. Blends traditional and field monitoring knowledge: It weaves generational ecological knowledge with field instruments and monitoring protocols.
4. Improves decision-making across levels: Data goes into a digital dashboard that informs decisions from village to district and State levels.
5. Builds climate leadership in communities: It trained 35 Key Community Stakeholders as climate stewards who collect, interpret, and explain trends.
6. Supports local planning and programmes: It can strengthen Gram Panchayat Development Plans and efforts like Climate Resilient Village, crop choices, and natural resource management.
7. Strengthens State climate pathways: It can add evidence for the Tamil Nadu Climate Tracker, State climate planning, Green Tamil Nadu Mission, coastal adaptation, and investment pathways under the Tamil Nadu Green Climate Company.
8. Prepares for long-term scale and jobs: Tools and training are proposed for integration into colleges, ITIs, and training centres to create a permanent green workforce and maintain long-term baselines.

Way forward

1. Build political will to formally include community forest monitoring in national MRV systems and link it with Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
2. Create early consensus among all stakeholders on goals, roles, indicators, and basic rules of monitoring before field work starts.
3. Select indicators that matter to both sides so the information is useful for communities as well as government planning and reporting.
4. Use community-friendly methods so data collection is practical, locally relevant, and possible with available skills and tools.
5. Define clear end use of data so everyone knows how the data will be applied in decisions, programmes, and reporting.
6. Fix benefit-sharing terms in advance so communities gain direct and agreed benefits for their monitoring work.
7. Set a simple feedback loop so communities also receive results and can use findings for local action.

Conclusion

A people-led climate intelligence movement strengthens climate action by placing communities at the centre of monitoring and decision-making. Tamil Nadu’s CbMRV shows how local knowledge can become reliable climate data. When community observations guide planning, finance, and governance, climate systems become more transparent, responsive, and resilient at every level.

Question for practice

Discuss how a people-led climate intelligence movement, through community-based MRV, can strengthen climate governance and transparency in India.

Source: The Hindu