Rajya Sabha

1 CLIMATE CHANGE: CHALLENGES TOSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN INDIARAJYA Sabha SECRETARIATNEW DELHIOCTOBER 200830 This paper is based on published sources which have been cited authenticity of the information given or the views and opinion expressedtherein rest with the respective sources, not with the Rajya Sabha Paper Series (3)CLIMATE CHANGE: CHALLENGES TOSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN INDIARESEARCH UNIT (LARRDIS) Rajya Sabha SECRETARIATNEW DELHIOCTOBER 2008 CONTENTSPAGE 1 Understanding Climate Change 1 Greenhouse Gases and Global Warming 2 IIDimensions of Climate Change4 Long-term consequences of GHGs4 Need for quick response4 Global Climatological effect4 Commitments of the developed vs.

2 Developing countries5 Climate change and the world s poor6 Climate change, trade and trade protection7 Climate change and business and industry environment9 Economics of climate change9 National energy policies and climate change10 IIII mpacts of Climate Change12 Agriculture and food security12 Impacts on Indian agriculture `13 Water stress and water insecurity14 Impacts on water situation in India15 Rise in sea levels16 Impacts on coastal states in India16 Ecosystems and biodiversity17 Impacts on India s biodiversity18 Climate change and health19 IVIndia s Response to Climate Change Challenges21 VIndia s Climate Friendly Measures22 VIAlternatives24 Greater share of renewable energy in the energy mix24 The

3 Gandhian approach towards sustainable development25 VIIS umming up26P R E F A C EThis publication titled Climate Change: Challenges to SustainableDevelopment in India is the next in a series of Occasional Papers proposed tobe brought out on topical issues from time to time for the benefit of the Membersof paper seeks to present varied dimensions and impacts of climatechange, highlighting India s response to meet the challenges of climate climate friendly measures taken by India in the overall perspective of thedeveloping countries have also been am grateful to eminent experts namely, Prof. M. S. Swaminathan,MP, Shri Singh, MP and Dr.

4 R. K. Pachauri, Chairman, IPCC and Director-General, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) whose valuable suggestionshave greatly enriched the contents of this is hoped that Members would find this paper interesting and DELHI V. K. AGNIHOTRI16 October, 2008 Secretary-General Rajya SabhaCLIMATE CHANGE: CHALLENGES TO SUSTAINABLEDEVELOPMENT IN INDIAII ntroduction Climate change is one of the complex problems facing mankind overriding complexity of the problem is attributed to its deeper globalramifications on a vast range of issues impacting the very survival of life onEarth. Understanding such a complex issue with vast and varied dimensionsand implications, assumes greater significance for all stakeholders, especiallyfor our policy makers.

5 There are varieties of perceptions regarding the exactsize and consequences of climate change. Yet, it is no secret that risks emanatingfrom climate change are indeed profound, which call for urgent mitigation. Thereis now strong evidence that climate change is a Today, it has beenscientifically established that significant global warming is occurring. Warmingof the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations ofincreases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting ofsnow and ice and rising global average sea There is no denying the factthat the problem exists and it is assuming alarming proportions, each passingday.

6 Therefore, there is an imperative need to take urgent and strong measuresin the interest of calibrating an appropriate response to meet the emergingchallenges of climate change is not an isolated issue. It has several aspects andinter-linkages namely, science and technology, economy and trade, diplomacyand politics - that makes it not just another issue in this complicated world ofproliferating issues, but the mother of all issues. Climate change, however, isdifferent from other problems facing humanity and it compels us to thinkdifferently at many levels. It obliges us to think about what it means to live aspart of an ecologically interdependent human community.

7 In the face of manydiversities that characterize human society, climate change provides a potentreminder of one thing that we share in common - the planet Earth. All nationsand all people share the same atmosphere. And, we only have one. Addressingthe climate chaos by all the countries both individually and collectively, will becritical to the human well-being and prosperity of the present as well as thefuture Climate ChangeClimate change refers to the variation in the Earth s global climate or inregional climates over time. It describes changes in the state of the atmosphereover time scales ranging from decades to millions of years.

8 Climate change1 Joint statement by 11 national science academies from Brazil, Canada, China, France,Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, and USA to world leaders, 7 June, 20052 Climate Change 2007, Synthesis Report (A Report of the IPCC), been defined by many in many ways. While some define it as an offshoot ofEarth s natural processes, others define it as a result of human a balance between these two varying perspectives, climate changeis defined as a change which is attributed directly or indirectly to humanactivity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is inaddition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.

9 3 Truly, the present changes in the Earth s climate cannot be explained aloneby the natural processes that explain Earth s previous warm periods. There isa broad scientific consensus that most of the warming in the recent decadescan be attributed to human If humanity is, in large part, responsiblefor this change, then whatever choices we make today, will have a significantbearing on the climate of the future. This makes climate change a Gases and Global WarmingThe Earth s climate is dynamic and always changing through a naturalcycle. It took billions of years for the Earth s climate to become conducive forthe evolution of mankind.

10 The solar energy, passing through the atmosphere, isabsorbed by the Earth s surface and a significant part of it is reflected back intothe atmosphere. However, the atmosphere of the Earth contains small quantitiesof carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide (collectively called greenhousegases (GHGs)) which act as a partial blanket that trap some of the outgoinginfra red radiation and reflect it back to Earth thus keeping the surface warmerthan it would otherwise be. In the absence of this greenhouse effect (trappingby GHGs) the Earth s mean temperature would be 30 C lower than it is,5 whichwould mean that the Earth would be an ice covered place.