India to submit adaptation plan to UNFCCC in few months: Bhupender Yadav

India will submit its first National Adaptation Plan (NAP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in the coming months, Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Thursday.

 

To strengthen efforts to address climate-related risks and enhance India’s climate resilience, the government recently released a draft framework for a climate finance taxonomy. By detailing the methodology for classifying activities, projects and measures under adaptation and mitigation, the taxonomy is expected to contribute to India’s climate commitments. It aims to facilitate investment in adaptation solutions and technologies that mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change.

 

“In a significant step towards strengthening adaptation, the government has embarked on a journey to create an inclusive roadmap through the development of the first National Adaptation Plan, which will be submitted to the UNFCCC in a few months,” Yadav said at the Confederation of Indian Industry’s Annual Business Summit.

 

The plan will be based on three pillars: enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening knowledge systems, and reducing exposure to climate change, he added.

 

Business Standard had reported last month that India’s forthcoming adaptation plan will be broader and more holistic, extending into economic and social structures to improve the scope of climate resilience. The NAP, expected to be submitted by September, will mark the country’s first such framework aligned with its global commitments under the Paris Agreement.

 

While India has the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), this will be the first adaptation-specific plan drafted in compliance with the Paris Agreement.

 

The NAP will be built on eight key principles: country-driven; integrated and multi-sectoral; gender-responsive; participatory and transparent; inclusive of vulnerable groups, communities and ecosystems; science-driven and informed by traditional knowledge; iterative and adaptive; and coordinated through a ‘whole-of-government’ and ‘whole-of-society’ approach.

 

It also aims to facilitate the integration of climate change adaptation measures with relevant existing and upcoming policies, programmes, development planning processes and strategies.

 

This development is critical as the global average temperature is projected to remain between 1.2°C and 1.9°C above pre-industrial levels over the next five years. Rising temperatures have already led to an increase in the intensity and duration of extreme weather events—such as heatwaves, cyclones and hazardous climatic episodes—particularly affecting India and other Southeast Asian countries.