Environemental perils of climate change in India:Future concerns and strategies

Climate change is a global environmental problem which has been receiving intense political attention both at domestic and international levels. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defines ‘climate change’ as a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods. India is committed to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol, which represent the international consensus on the way to deal with climate change. India believes that uncompensated climate change mitigation by developing countries may hamper the speed of their economic growth. India has a very comprehensive framework of legal and institutional mechanisms in the region to respond to the tremendous challenges to the environment it is facing, owing to population growth, poverty and illiteracy augmented by urbanization and industrial development. Climate change is inextricably linked to the broader sustainable development agenda to reduce poverty, child mortality and morbidity, and to ensure universal primary education for all children. Hence climate change is threatening the capacity of the country like India to attain the Millennium development goals by 2015. The study is mainly based on secondary data. The various sources include human development reports, UNDP reports, ADB reports, published and unpublished documents including journals, books, occasional publications, working papers, popular magazine and annual publications of social development organizations. India has initiated several climate-friendly measures, particularly in the area of renewable energy. India had adopted the National Environment Policy 2006, and has also taken many other measures and policy initiatives. Climate change is the net result of several factors and many sectors of the economy are climate sensitive. Therefore, it is essential to have assessments of impacts of climate change to various sectors of the economy directly or indirectly to enable devising the adaptation and mitigation strategies to respond to the changes immediately. Efforts to be address climate change adaptation and mitigation needs should not take resources away from the core development needs and growth objectives of the developing countries. The present paper is an attempt in this regard.