According to the National Climate Vulnerability Assessment report titled ‘Climate Vulnerability Assessment for Adaptation Planning in India Using a Common Framework’ released by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), 8 Eastern States of India have been identified as Highly Vulnerable to Climate Change.
- The 8 states are – Jharkhand, Mizoram, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, and West Bengal.
- Among all states, Assam, Bihar, and Jharkhand have over 60% districts in the category of highly vulnerable districts.
- The report has been prepared by DST in collaboration with Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru (IISc Bengaluru), Swiss Agency for Development & Cooperation (SDC), Indian Institute of Technology Mandi (IIT Mandi) and Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG).
- The report was released by DST Secretary Professor Ashutosh Sharma.
Other Categories
- Lower-Middle Vulnerable States – Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Sikkim and Punjab.
- Lower Vulnerability states – Uttarakhand, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Nagaland, Goa and Maharashtra.
Measures need to be taken
- The report which identifies those eight states/districts are eastern part of India which need prioritisation of climate-change adaptation measures to address climate change.
- It will help in initiating climate actions at the ground level & help in development of better-designed climate change adaptation projects.
- The report will be used for India’s reporting on the National Determined Contributions (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, it will also support India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change.
- The key drivers of vulnerability in the 8 eastern states (Highly vulnerable states) were Lack of Forest area per 100 rural population, Poor health infrastructure, lack of implementation of rural employment Scheme MGNREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005) and lack of crop insurance and rainfed agriculture.
National Action Plan on Climate Change
i.DST has been implementing 2 National Missions as part of the National Action Plan on Climate Change. They are
- National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE)
- National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change (NMSKCC).
ii.Under these missions, DST has been supporting the State Climate Change Cells in 25 States and UTs.
Recent Related News:
i.On December 7, 2020, non-governmental organization, Germanwatch released the 16th edition of Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI-2021) for 57 countries and European Union (EU) in which India was ranked at 10th spot.
About Department of Science & Technology (DST)
It is an department within the Ministry of Science & Technology
Secretary – Professor Ashutosh Sharma
Headquarters – New Delhi
