National Action Plan For Climate Change (NAPCC)

Climate change is the greatest challenge humankind has ever had to deal with. The Earth’s surface temperature has increased by 1.18°C since the late 19th Century.¹ It is predominantly caused by human activities releasing greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.² These gases trap heat close to our planet and accelerate global warming.³

In response, various countries have proposed a national action plan on climate change.

India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC)

Perhaps the best known national action plan on climate change was published by India in 2008.⁴ The aim of their NAPCC was to create awareness for the threat posed by climate change and outline steps to tackle the issue.⁵ It forms a multi-pronged, long-term and integrated approach to the challenges posed by climate change.⁶

Climate change is particularly pressing for India. Due to its huge population and high levels of poverty and inequality, the sub-continent stands to be one of the worst affected.⁷ Rapid changes in temperature would increase the stress on India’s natural ecosystems, agriculture, and freshwater resources.⁸ Their NAPCC, therefore, intends to simultaneously advance India’s development whilst meeting climate change targets.⁹

What is the core of India’s NAPCC?

The core of India’s NAPCC is formed of eight national missions¹⁰:

• National Solar Mission
• National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency
• National Mission on Sustainable Habitat
• National Water Mission
• National Mission for Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem
• Green India Mission
• National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture
• National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change

The first of these is the National Solar Mission. It aims to promote the use of solar energy for power generation.¹¹ Ultimately, the goal is to make solar energy competitive with traditional fossil fuel-based energies.¹² A transition away from greenhouse gas-emitting sources of energy is central to India, reducing its contribution to global warming.

The National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE) involves reducing energy consumption for large energy-consuming industries.¹³ Similarly, the third National Mission on Sustainable Habitat promotes energy efficiency in urban planning.¹⁴ It places greater emphasis on urban waste management and recycling.¹⁵ It also encourages the purchasing of efficient vehicles and incentivizes the use of public transport.¹⁶ All of these would help to decrease India’s CO2 emissions.

India’s National Water Mission (NWM) addresses the risk of drought as a result of rising temperatures.¹⁷ At its heart is a 20 percent improvement in water use efficiency.¹⁸ Their National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE) has a similar aim. It intends to both prevent the Himalayan glaciers from melting and protect biodiversity in the mountain range.¹⁹ The Himalayas are particularly vulnerable to climate change, and its native species are under increasing pressure as a result.²⁰ The world’s tallest mountains are also the source of the Yangtze, Ganges, Indus, and Mekong rivers.²¹ Over one billion people rely on the Himalayas as a source of water, making its preservation of critical importance.²²

Do the missions cover deforestation and agriculture?

The Green India Mission is the sixth of India’s eight NAPCC missions. Its targets include afforesting six million hectares of degraded forest.²³ Expanding forest cover from 23 to 33 per cent of India’s landmass is another objective.²⁴ Trees are fundamental in the fight against climate change. They absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and can sequester it for centuries.²⁵ Moreover, they are home to complex and diverse ecosystems and sustain a significant proportion of the planet’s biodiversity.²⁶

In order to support India’s agriculture, the NAPCC includes a National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).²⁷ As its name suggests, its focus is on developing climate-resilient crops and agricultural practices and expanding weather insurance mechanisms.²⁸

The eighth and final mission is India’s National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change. Its purpose is to better understand climate science. It “envisions a new Climate Science Research Fund, improved climate modeling, and increased international collaboration” to this end.²⁹

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