POLICY BRIEF ON

ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE
FOR EFFECTIVE CLIMATE
CHANGE ADAPTATION TO
RESOLVE CRITICAL
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OF THE
INDIAN HIMALAYAN REGION
(IHR)

Presentation By:
Naysa Ahuja
Enviro Legal Defence Firm
In collaboration with
Environment, Law and Development Foundation
August 2015
SCOPE OF WORK
&
APPROACH
 SCOPE OF WORK
 AIM: integrated strategy for governing of resources and mountain societies in IHR

 DELIVERABLE: Policy brief to identify and analyse good environmental policies and
practices for IHR for effective climate change adaptation

 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Desk-based, interviews, & Workshop

 DURATION: 60 days (draft policy brief)

 APPROACH: livelihood, landscape, integrated, transboundary,

 ASSESSMENT: Existing policies, Action plans, judicial position on climate adaptation

(National, IHR states and International)

 CORE SECTORS- Energy, Agriculture, Forest & Biodiversity, Urban Development, Waste
Management

This is the First Draft Policy Brief!

 OVERVIEW OF THE PAPER
 Climate Adaptation & its Status in India
 Principles for framing IHR integrated policy
 International Mountain Context
 Good practices
 Policy findings & recommendations
 Policy Takeaways
IHR AND CLIMATE CHANGE
ADAPTATION
 IHR-MOUNTAIN AND DEVELOPMENT
CONTEXT
 GEOGRAPHICAL COVERAGE: 5.37 lakh km2

 ADMINISTRATIVE COVERAGE: 10 states and 2 states partially

 HABITAT: Home to around 74 million people

 ECOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
 one of the 34 biodiversity hotspots ;
 60 eco-regions,
 330 important bird areas,
 53 important plant areas
 Supports some of the major river systems of the world for
 India, Nepal, Bangladesh, China, Bhutan and Pakistan and
 a large number of wetlands
 WHAT IS CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION
AND WHERE ARE WE ON IT?

 DEFINITION: Adaptation involves how communities adjust to the

changing climate and thus, the involvement of local communities is
a must

 NEED: Integrated regulatory framework

 ACTUAL SITUATION: Long way to go!

 ENVIRONMENTAL
JURISPRUDENCE,
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS,
NATIONAL POLICIES
&
JUDICIAL ACTION
 KEY PRINCIPLES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL
GOVERNANCE FOR CLIMATE CHANGE

 Sustainable Development
 Precautionary Principle
 Integrated natural resource management
 Decentralized Governance
 Gender and Equity
 Policy and Policy Measures as a continuous Process
 Respecting traditional community practices
 Transboundary approach
 Focus of Adaptive Measures
INTERNATIONAL MOUNTAIN CONTEXT
 STAGE OF INFANCY
 1st transnational agreement on mountain- Alpine Convention- entered
into by nine states, including EU in 1991

 UNCED :Agenda 21; Chapter 13 on sustainable mountain development

 INTERNATIONAL GOOD GOVERNANCE POLICIES

 Bhutan: National Adaptation Program of Action (NAPA)

 Nepal: Climate Budget Code

 China: National Adaptation Strategy

 NATIONAL CONTEXT ON CLIMATE
GOVERNANCE IN IHR
 Constitutional Guarantees on Environment: Article 48A and Article
51A (g)

 National Policy on Integrated Development of the Himalayas, 1992

 National Mission on Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE)

under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) 2008

 Guidelines on Governance of Sustainable Himalayan Ecosystem

(GSHE), 2009

 SAPCCs & State Policies: Energy, Agriculture, Forest & Biodiversity,

Town Planning & Urbanization
 JUDICIAL INTERVENTION IN IHR
 Role of Apex Court
 Order in Godavarman matter

 Order in Narmada Bachao Andolan

 Lack of conspicuous order on IHR per se

 Reason??

 Example of how judicial activism can contribute

 Court orders in Netherlands

COMMUNITY ADAPTATION
CASE STUDIES
 CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION BY
COMMUNITIES
 Few Best Practice Examples
 Sikkim: Traditional Agrodiversity

 Uttarakhand: NabuSamo and Kathburiya Devi, rain water

harvesting practices, Sacred God Sites

 Arunachal Pradesh: Sacred Groves

 Nagaland: Pycohydel Projects

 Himachal Pradesh: Ecosystem Service Charges

 Assam: Tracking ant movements

 KEY POLICY
RECOMMENDATIONS
 POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
 INTEGRATED POLICY FOR IHR
 Sectoral Approach with cross cutting themes
 Clustered approach
 Specific law with state guidelines
 ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL CHANGES
 Review of legal and administrative mechanism
 Amendments in laws: Central and State
 Amendments to policies
 Creation of Taskforce for formal mechanism with MOEFCC as nodal
agency
 Training of various line departments and other implementing agencies
 Strengthening institutional coordination
 Cumulative assessment of integrated projects from a climate adaptation
perspective
 Coordination among all line departments
POLICY
RECOMMENDATIONS(CONTD….)
 RECOGNITION OF TRADITIONAL PRACTICES
 Preserving traditional knowledge
 Community Intellectual Property
 Formal recognition system based through digital libraries
 Recognizing and validating community efforts through legal measures

 EFFECTIVE LAND USE PLANNING WITH TRANSBOUNDARY

APPROACH FOR ECOSYSTEMS

 INTERNATIONAL COVENANTS AND AGREEMENTS

 Meet national obligations through effective legal & programmatic
interventions
POLICY
RECOMMENDATIONS(CONTD….)
 FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO IHR
 long-term investment programme
 Promote self-generating mechanisms on resources mobilisation
 stronger financial security net- climate insurances

 REGULATORY AND INSTITUTIONAL CHANGES

o Inter-department Coordination!
o Understanding of Climate Adaptation
o Cumulative Assessment
 TRAINING AND CAPACITY BUILDING OF COMMUNITIES

 RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

 Technology
 Social Policy
 KEY POLICY TAKEAWAYS
 Bring consonance to relevant state laws of IHR states with the SAPCC,
NMSHE and GSHE
 Empower communities to engage in resource utilization understanding
location-specific vulnerabilities and needs
 Clearer two-way link between science, policy and practice
 Scientific evidence on climate change basis for policy-formulation
 Mechanisms to ensure the policy brings about adaptive change in the
community practice
 Implementation plan and specific programmatic intervention must flow
out of approved SAPCCs of each state
 Statutory backing to the policy followed by time-bound action plan
monitored and enforced by a statutory body
 Avoid pilot or model approach which is limited to time-bound funding
 POLICY TAKEAWAYS (CONTD.)
 Incorporate climate adaptation in the planning of every environmental policy
 Climate adaptation to be intrinsic good governance indicator at every level
 SAPCC and state laws to ensure place-based and locally-driven adaptation
measures are adopted in a time-bound manner
 Training and capacity-building of communities and implementing authorities on
climate adaptation in various sectors
 Enhancing adaptive capacities & strategies through defined institutional support
at different levels
 Developing Climate Fund such as in Nepal Budget Code
 “Policy fragmentation” and “institutional barriers” to be addressed through
National adaptation policy-response assessments
 Gender-focused livelihood diversification to transform role of women from
vulnerable group to risk managers
POLICY TAKEAWAYS (CONTD.)
 Adequate funding to communities to explore climate adaptive practices at local
level through central and state level schemes such as MNREGA and through
funds available under CAMPA.
 Research is needed on the central and state schemes available for promoting
climate innovative strategies on livelihood security.
 Adaptive traditional management system of agrodiversity needs to be recognized
in the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan as well as Biodiversity
Rules
 Disaster preparedness on agriculture system, crop security through appropriate
crop insurance policy, better storage facilities, among others.
 THANK YOU!

WE WOULD BE HAPPY TO RESPOND TO ANY QUERIES!