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India is frequently portrayed as the fourth largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter globally, based on the current annual emissions of sovereign nation-states. Through a comprehensive review and assessment, this article argues that other metrics of country-wise emissions provide a more holistic and unbiased view. The article argues that ranking per se by any metric is of minor value unless also placed along the actual quantities. India's cumulative emissions (excluding LULUCF, 1850-2019) amount to only 4.31% of the global total, well behind the three leading emitters, the United States (22.46%), the European Union (16.06%) and China (13.45%). Therefore, in terms of annual emissions, the story of India as the fourth largest emitter is very mistaken, as the gap between us and the third is substantial. The article argues that national emissions must be judged by equity in mitigation and in the light of climate action being undertaken. On both grounds, India, relative to its responsibility and what equity demands, is doing far more than her fair share. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the challenges posed by climate change, particularly the rise in global average temperature and its implications, highlighting the need for intensified adaptation and mitigation efforts globally. It also emphasizes the significance of understanding the vulnerability scenario in the Indian Himalayan region and the initiatives taken under the National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem to assess ecosystem health and formulate sustainable development strategies.

This study traces the development of watersheds in India based on the governing guidelines of the watershed programmes. We explore the changes and modifications in the watershed guidelines and categorize the developmental changes into six distinct yet interlinked phases. We observed that the watershed guidelines were fine-tuned with emerging challenges of land degradation, livelihood security, gender and social equity, climate change mitigation and adaptations. Recently, the focus of watersheds has shifted from production centric to income-centric by promoting enabling institutional settings. The experiences and learnings from India’s watershed programmes provide insights for other developing countries implementing such programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

REDD+ is one of the climate change mitigation options in the forestry sector in developing countries, which is under different phases of implementation. India is under the readiness phase of REDD+ implementation, and has developed National REDD+ Strategy and Forest Reference Level. Relevant policies, laws and regulations related to forest resources support the implementation of REDD+ activities. Lack of capacity of the stakeholders on REDD+ related issue, as well as lack of availability of adequate quality planting stocks, and readily available international and national finance are identified as the challenges for implementation of REDD+ activities in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of climate change, micro-irrigation (MI; drip and sprinkler systems) has the potential to address problems like water scarcity and emission of greenhouse gases from agriculture. The central and state governments promote MI through heavy subsidies, but without much consideration to supply-side factors like water harvesting, socio-economic factors, including affordability of upfront capital cost and agronomic factors like extant farming system. Despite heavy investments, MI coverage is less than 15% of the potential. This article contextualizes MI development in India and proposes alternative policies to achieve the twin objectives of water harvesting and its efficient usage. They include developing affordable systems, small farm orientation of technology, popularizing MI in canal commands, prioritization and water budgeting, harnessing circular economy in water usage, and developing institutional mechanisms. MI has the potential to serve both as an adaptation and mitigation strategy against climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transitioning to a net-zero world is one of the greatest challenges humanity may face across the world. Nonetheless, land-based carbon removal actions are vital to meet net-zero targets but involve significant trade-offs that may risk food security. The potential increase in demand for land in the near future for land-based climate mitigation methods across India could certainly threaten the right to land and food, especially for people and communities whose livelihoods depend on land. In the context of global efforts to address and combat the climate crisis and to improve food security, agroforestry is a sustainable land use with immense potential to achieve significant impact and synergy across priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the framework for evaluating India's net zero commitments.

Water application systems under wells extracting groundwater are one of the major factors influencing climate change in the agricultural sector. In the context of growing demand for adaption of pressurized irrigation with electric pumps in South Central India, the present study was undertaken to assess the carbon dioxide emission (CO2 e) for different irrigation systems. The crop water requirements and pumpsets prevailing in the area were considered for estimation of CO2 e. The estimation includes operational energy consumption, well digging, installation and manufacturing of the irrigation system as well as the pumpsets. The irrigation systems used in major crops under wells include surface (rice, maize, groundnut, vegetables and sugarcane), raingun (maize, groundnut, vegetables and sugarcane), sprinkler (maize, groundnut and vegetables) and drip (vegetable and sugarcane). The analysis indicated that the energy used in pumping irrigation water made the highest contribution to total CO2 e footprint, which ranged from 2.52 to 15.72 t/ha depending on the irrigation system. Sugarcane crop showed maximum energy requirement (17.27 MWh/ha) under surface irrigation system, contributing 15.72 t/ha CO2 e. Maximum reduction in energy requirement and CO2 e was recorded in the case of drip (11.52 MWh/ha; 10.48 t/ha) system followed by sprinkler (12.58 MWh/ha; 11.52 t/ha) and raingun (14.81 MWh/ha; 13.47 t/ha) under tube wells. It was observed that among all the irrigation systems, the drip system gave the lowest CO2 e indicating the maximum climate change mitigation potential in the irrigation sector of selected region under wells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the group exercise, one of the experts apprised the audience about gender vulnerability to climate change and the role of women in climate change mitigation. One member of the Block Development Council, Papoli village pointed out that climate change awareness and resilience building programmes for women would certainly provide a roadmap for adaptive measures to minimize the impacts of climate change. The Gram Pradhan, Papoli highlighted key issues of the impact of climate change on women and suggested development of a framework to mitigate climate change impacts. [Extracted from the article]

Climate change is commonly discussed at national and international levels. It directly affects the water cycle and thus life on Earth. The effect of climate change on surface water has been known for quite sometime now, however research is still in its infancy on the effects of climate change on the subsurface water. This review provides an insight into the factors responsible for climate change, its effects on groundwater quantity and quality on a global scale with emphasis on Indian groundwater resources and anticipated mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is one of the most important global environmental challenges that affect all the natural ecosystems of the world. Due to the fragile environment, mountain ecosystems are the most vulnerable to the impact of climate change. Mountains have been recognized as important ecosystems by the Convention on Biological Diversity. Arunachal Pradesh is a predominantly mountainous state and is home to many endemic, endangered and threatened species, as well as to the indigenous people, who are dependent on its biological resources. Climate change will not only threaten the biodiversity, but also affect the socio-economic condition of the indigenous people of the state. Various activities like habitat loss, deforestation, clear felling and overexploitation amplify the impact of climate change on biodiversity. Therefore, some management initiatives should be taken for mitigating climate change. Also, more research work needs to be carried out in Arunachal Pradesh to monitor the trend of climate change and susceptibility of biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Government of India has announced the Greening India Mission (GIM) under the National Climate Change Action Plan. The Mission aims to restore and afforest about 10 mha over the period 2010-2020 under different sub-missions covering moderately dense and open forests, scrub/grasslands, mangroves, wetlands, croplands and urban areas. Even though the main focus of the Mission is to address mitigation and adaptation aspects in the context of climate change, the adaptation component is inadequately addressed. There is a need for increased scientific input in the preparation of the Mission. The mitigation potential is estimated by simply multiplying global default biomass growth rate values and area. It is incomplete as it does not include all the carbon pools, phasing, differing growth rates, etc. The mitigation potential estimated using the Comprehensive Mitigation Analysis Process model for the GIM for the year 2020 has the potential to offset 6.4% of the projected national greenhouse gas emissions, compared to the GIM estimate of only 1.5%, excluding any emissions due to harvesting or disturbances. The selection of potential locations for different interventions and species choice under the GIM must be based on the use of modelling, remote sensing and field studies. The forest sector provides an opportunity to promote mitigation and adaptation synergy, which is not adequately addressed in the GIM. Since many of the interventions proposed are innovative and limited scientific knowledge exists, there is need for an unprecedented level of collaboration between the research institutions and the implementing agencies such as the Forest Departments, which is currently non-existent. The GIM could propel systematic research into forestry and climate change issues and thereby provide global leadership in this new and emerging science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of technology in increasing India’s progress towards climate change goals. Topics discussed include India is garnering financial assistance for technology development or transfer from developed countries; assessing the technological needs of the country for contributing to adaptation and mitigation goals; and efforts for fulfilling national climate goals set in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

The author focuses on the role played by Indian television media in disseminating scientific information to the people related to climatic changes. He states that the reporting on the changes regarding climate will help in shaping climatic adaptation and mitigation actions. He mentions the need of increase in coverage by need on topic of climate change for engaging more people in the process.