India needs a ‘Mission Adaptation’

Published
26th May, 2023

Context

The Government of India should make efforts towards addressing climate change that are concentrated on mitigating its impact rather than innovating enough to adapt to newer challenges.

Key highlights:

Green Hydrogen Mission: Climate change mitigation has received a clear mention - especially with the focus on green growth initiatives targeted at reducing the carbon intensity of the economy such as green mobility, energy efficiency and the green hydrogen mission announcement.
Mangrove Plantation Initiative: Certain budgetary allocations towards nature-based solutions such as the mangrove plantation initiative and the community-based wetland conservation scheme promise to have potentially positive impacts in mitigating climate change and climate adaptation.

Mission Adaptation

Mission Adaptation is a term used in the context of climate change and refers to the need for a strategic, proactive approach to building adaptive capacity in order to climate-proof lives, livelihoods, the environment and the economy.
It is a proposed initiative for creating a supportive ecosystem for all entities, including the private sector, non-profits, and civil society, to come together and work towards developing and scaling up locally-sound adaptation solutions in India.
The idea is to view climate adaptation as a strategic investment by the public sector and to bridge complex challenges faced by society today using the idea of public purpose to guide policy and business activity.

Way ahead:

The government should adopt “Mission Adaptation” to create a supportive ecosystem for all entities, including the private sector, non-profits and civil society, to come together and work towards developing and scaling up locally-sound adaptation solutions.
The government must work towards developing a more systemic understanding of resilience, its adjacencies with other goals, and suitable methods to measure these, as well as support efforts aimed at building such an understanding across the ecosystem. This would likely benefit all actors trying to enhance climate adaptation across contexts.