National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC)

India launched its National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) in June 2008. When this was announced, India was one of the 10 odd countries in the world to have a combined policy for tackling climate change.

The government wanted a policy on climate change before the G8 Summit at Tokyo in 2008, and the Conference of Parties at Copenhagen in 2009. Since the NAPCC was formulated in haste, the policy broadly covered objectives and did not address strategy to achieve the objectives. The ministries concerned took 6 more years to approve the mission. In that time frame, there was a change of guard, and a new government was formed.

The new Government announced a slew of measures to tackle climate change, however, it did not align with NAPCC.

National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC):- Download PDF Here

Latest context related to National Action Plan on Climate Change –

Eight Indian states, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, and West Bengal are highly vulnerable to climate change, according to the report, titled ‘Climate Vulnerability Assessment for Adaptation Planning in India Using a Common Framework’, released by the science & technology ministry. The report also showed that Maharashtra is the least vulnerable state in the country.

• Lack of forest area per 100 rural population was found to be one of the major drivers of vulnerability for Assam despite the fact that the state has a forest cover of 42 per cent,
• In case of Bihar, poor health infrastructure to be the key vulnerability driver,
• Lack of crop insurance and rainfed agriculture were key drivers of vulnerability for Jharkhand.

This topic would be of importance in the IAS Exam for both Prelims and Mains and this article will mention issues associated with it given in the table of content below.

Table of Contents:

What was the need for the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC)?

1. As per the Global Climate Risk Index of 2018, India is the 12th Most vulnerable country that gets impacted by Climate Change.
2. On average, every year 3,570 deaths occur in India due to the adverse impact of climate change.

Government Initiatives to Mitigate Climate Change

1. National Water Mission (NWM)
2. National Mission for Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE) and National Mission for Strategic Knowledge on Climate Change (NMSKCC)
3. National Solar Mission (NSM)
4. National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE)
5. National Mission on Sustainable Habitat (NMSH)
6. National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA)
7. Green India Mission (GIM)

Find in the below table information on the date of launch and proposed budget:

What were the challenges faced by NAPCC?

1. The policy was formulated in haste. There was a lot of delay in the approval of ministries.
2. There was a change in government at the centre.
3. The monitoring system was ineffective.
4. Budgetary support was very limited.

National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) Missions

National Water Mission

This mission was launched in 2011.

What is the need for the National Water Mission?

India has 17% of the world’s population but only 4% of the world’s water. To compound the already existing crisis, we are facing the problem of climate change, which directly affects the availability of water. Climate change results in floods, and prolonged drought conditions. Below is the list of problems that arise due to climate change and lack of awareness in the optimum utilization of water.

1. The decline in the glaciers in the Himalayas.
2. The drought situation in many parts of the country due to a shortage of rainfall.
3. Increase in floods due to the increase in the intensity of rains
4. Effect on groundwater quality and quantity
5. Increased saline intrusion in coastal aquifers due to rising sea levels.

Read more about the National Water Mission in the linked article.

National Mission for Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE)

The mission was launched in 2014.

Objective of NMSHE

1. Develop in a time-bound manner a sustainable national capacity to continuously assess the health status of the Himalayan ecosystem
2. Assist states in the Himalayan region with the implementation of actions selected for sustainable development.

National Solar Mission

Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission is also known as the National Solar Mission. The mission was launched in Jan 2010 by the Government.

The Target for National Solar Mission

It had set a target of 20,000 MW of grid-connected solar power by 2022. It was revised in June 2015 to 1,00,000 MW by 2022.

The mission is made up of 3 phases,

Phase 1 – 2012 – 13

Phase 2 – 2013 – 17

Phase 3 – 2017 – 22

Targets are given below

1. Install 1,00,000 MW of solar power by 2022.
2. 40 GW rooftop and 60 GW through large and medium scale grid-connected solar power projects.
3. To achieve 15 million sq meters of solar thermal collector area by 2017 and 20 million by 2022.
4. To deploy 20 million solar lighting systems for rural areas by 2022.

Read more about the National Solar Mission in the linked article.

Candidates can go through the following relevant links to prepare even better for the upcoming Civil Services Examinations-

National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE)

This mission was launched in 2011.

What is NMEEE?

It is a mission to strengthen the market for energy efficiency by creating favourable policies and regulations.

As per a study, if this mission is implemented successfully, the total capacity addition of approximately 20,000 MW could be avoided.

To read more about the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE), check the linked article.

National Mission on Sustainable Habitat (NMSH)

It was launched in 2010.

Objective of NMSH

1. Design the buildings in such a way that energy demand is optimized and make sure that there are improvements in energy efficiency.
2. Facilitate the growth of small and medium cities – make sure there is better urban planning, and convenient public transport.

As per a report prepared by TERI for the Ministry of Urban Development, the successful implementation of the above flagship missions has a potential for mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions amounting to 133 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2021 and 270 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2031.

To read more about the National Mission on Sustainable Habitat (NMSH), check the linked article.

National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA)

It was launched in 2012. Few objectives of the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture are given below.

Objectives of NMSA

1. Make agriculture more productive by promoting location-specific integrated or composite farming systems.
2. Soil and moisture conservation measures.
3. Increase the productivity of rainfed farming by utilizing resources from Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP).

Further information on National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture – NMSA is available on the linked page.

Green India Mission (GIM)

It was launched in 2014. The primary aim is to protect, restore, and enhance India’s diminishing forest cover. A couple of objectives of the Green India Mission are given below.

Objectives of GIM

1. Increase the forest/tree cover to 5 million hectares (mha) and improve the quality of forest/tree cover on another 5 million hectares of forest or non-forest lands. There are separate sub-targets for different forest types and ecosystems (for example- wetland, grassland, dense forest, etc).
2. Improvement in quality of moderately dense forest cover, but showing degradation – 1.5 million hectares (ha).

Read more about Green India Mission (GIM) in the linked article.

The above details would be of help to candidates preparing for the UPSC 2023 exams from the perspective of the mains examination.

The information in the article is also relevant for Government Exams aspirants.

Frequently Asked Questions about National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC)

What is the National Action Plan on Climate Change?

National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC) is a Government of India’s programme launched in 2008 to mitigate and adapt to the adverse impact of climate change. The action plan was launched in 2008 with 8 sub-missions and currently had 9 submissions

What is the aim of the National Action Plan on Climate Change?

The plan aims at fulfilling India’s developmental objectives with focus on reducing emission intensity of its economy. The plan will rely on the support from the developed countries with the prime focus of keeping its carbon emissions below the developed economies at any point of time.

UPSC exam-related links are given below for candidates’ convenience in the preparation.