Spatial assessment of vulnerability of social groups to climate change in Madhya Pradesh, India

Climate change disproportionately impacts different sections of a population depending on their inherent vulnerability characterized by access to basic facilities, assets and other entitlements, place of residence, and demographic characteristics. Indigenous communities are more vulnerable than other social groups in a population due to their natural resource dependent livelihood and isolation from the mainstream population. Madhya Pradesh, the tribal state of India, has a higher share of marginalized populations (Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST)) and is characterized by higher disparities among the social groups. By constructing indices for socioeconomic, infrastructural and agricultural vulnerability for social groups and climate indices at the district level, this study attempted to assess differences in the vulnerability of each social group to climate change in districts of Madhya Pradesh. The study showed that SC and ST possess significantly high vulnerability to climate change than Non SC/ST due to significant differences in socioeconomic, infrastructural and agricultural vulnerability. The districts where each social group was most vulnerable differed, but the reasons for higher vulnerability remained the same across the groups. The results contribute to vulnerability reduction efforts of the state by identifying the districts most vulnerable to climate change for each social group and most vulnerable social groups in the district as well as at the state level. This study also provides wide applications in climate change vulnerability assessment of other Indian states and developing countries with similar socioeconomic and demographic characteristics.