Dr. Rakesh Kumar Atri and Sheikh Altaf
Climate change is a harsh reality, there are enough scientific shreds of evidence towarn humanity of the present and future climate-linked catastrophes. Observation points towards increased average global temperature, with a major overhaul in the occurrences of climatic extremes threatening humanity and many fragile terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.Yet the looming situation is naïve enough to stimulate concrete policy interventions when it comes to the climatic diverse and fragile landscape of the Himalayas and its foothills. In brevity, climatic scientists predicta future where “the number of warmers days would increase but the number of colder nights would decrease, and extreme events will abruptly increase”. Unfortunately, the adaptive capabilities toward changing climate tremendously vary across the regions, sectors, and communities owing to economic, geographical, and cultural barriers. Unfortunately, Himalayan natives are highly prone to climatic extremes owing to limited adaptive capability towards climatic-linked vulnerabilities imminent as income loss, crop loss, housing loss, loss of tourism, etc. If not timely intervened through concrete policy apparatus, greater challenges like loss of sustainable livelihoods may start appearing. Additionally, the ecosystem conservation efforts may see a future derailment owing to the over-exploitation of natural resources and loss of regeneration capacity of the ecosystems. In extreme cases,people may become “Climate Refugees” fleeing their native places, a situation though lesser-known in the Himalayas.
This article aims to introduce readers from technical and non-technical backgrounds to the problem of climate change and its impacts, national and international efforts towards its mitigations, and various science and policy interventions for ensuring adaptation.
Like many other scientific acquaintances, climate science is also confronted with a wide plethora of uncertainties, though the certainty of the change remained almost certain. On the technical front,the increase of atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs) like carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) are responsible for global warming of which CO2 is the main culprit. Atmospheric CO2has sharply increased from its pre-industrial level of 280 ppm to 420 ppm at present, a huge increment as the last time when Earth’s atmosphere witnessed such high CO2 concentration was more than 3 million years ago, when the global temperature was 2°-3°C higher than the pre-industrial levels, and the sea level was 15-25 meters higher than today.Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated that the global net anthropogenic GHG emissions were 59±6.6 GtCO2-eq in 2019, about 12% higher than in 2010 and 54% higher than in 1990. Sector-wise, the energy sector contributes to an overwhelming 34% of total net anthropogenic GHG emissions, followed by 24% from industry, 22% from agriculture, forestry, and other land use, 15% from transport, and 6% from buildings.
Efforts towards mitigation
The Montreal Protocol signed in 1987, placed legal bindings on the emissions of ozone-depleting substances. The full and sustained implementation of the Montreal Protocol has been a motivation for further environmental negotiations requiring immediate attention. The issue of climate change came into the highlight in the late 1980s. To provide policymakers and administrators across the globe with the state of scientific, technical, and socio-economic knowledge on climate change, its impacts, and future risks, UNEP and WMO founded IPCC, in 1988. Based on deliberations on the first report issued by IPCC, world leaders at Earth Summit in 1992 established United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). UNFCC provides a framework for the formulation of a legally binding treaty to limit GHGs emissions in line with the Montreal Protocol. The Kyoto protocol signed in 1997at Kyoto, Japan under UNFCCC called industrialized countries and economies (Annex-I) to reduce their GHGs emissions based on the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities”. Though after much delay the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol (2008-12) saw the light of the day but failed to meet the envisaged carbon reduction targets. The demise of the Kyoto Protocol led to the polarization of the world with developed nations on one side and developing nations including the emerging superpowers India and China on the other. The debate on the historical baggage of carbon emissions by developed nations and the reluctance of developing countries to take up emissions reduction targets remained a sore throat for further climatic negotiations till the happening of the Paris agreement where the ice got broken in 2015 inthe beautiful city of Paris. The 196 member countries of the UNFCC assembled in Paris in December 2015 for COP21 to discuss further actions for combating changing climate. The climatic agreement signed therein on December 12, 2015, was known to be called the “Paris agreement” and came as a great relief for climate activists and scientists. The Paris agreement sets the scope for international efforts to limit the temperature increase to below 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels with both developed and developing nations participating in the emissions reduction based on their respective capabilities under their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
The climate mitigation efforts are primarily concentrated around limiting the emissions of greenhouse gases and increasing the sinks which can absorb the atmospheric greenhouse gases. Forests have been the most important and viable sinks for greenhouse gases; however, scientific research is going on to explore technological solutions too.
Enhancing the forest cover and restoring the degraded ones
Forests are an integral part of the natural carbon cycle and are considered an important sink of atmospheric carbon. Besides, they provide many ecosystem services and support livelihoods, and supply goods and services. With nations not compromising on their energy needs, and shift to renewables will take a significant amount of time. A little progress is made in the control of global carbon emissions, and whatever progress has been made is offset by the increasing GDP demand and energy requirement,especially in developing nations. Many climate scientists argue that large-scale afforestation will buy us some time to halt the change and switch towards renewables.The trees absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide and help regulate the microclimate of the region. Approximately one-third of the CO2 released from burning fossil fuels roughly equivalent to 2.6 billion tonnes, is absorbed by forests every year. Besides the high rate of soil erosion from climate-induced flooding could be kept under control through afforestation activities. Another view is providing alternative employment opportunities to locals in the form of afforestation and conservation programs, which could go a long way in shielding people from climate-related vulnerabilities. The afforestation program got a big boost from the Paris agreement, which for the first time counted all countries’ efforts to offset their carbon emissions from fossil-fuel use and other sources by planting or protecting forests. Several countries have launched large-scale afforestation programs to meet their individual NDCs targets. For instance, China aims to plant trees over an area up to four times the size of the United Kingdom. The State of California, USA has allowed the forest owners to sell carbon credits to companies emitting carbon dioxide. Many other countries have launched similar flexibility mechanisms to promote clean energy development.The global estimates suggest that there are nearly two billion hectares of degraded land equivalent to an area the size of South America, which offers opportunities for restoration. Halting the loss and degradation of forest ecosystems and promoting their restoration have the potential to contribute immensely to the total climate change mitigation targets.
India is home to diverse forest regimes owing to its climatic variability, with a total forested area in the country being equal to 21.71% of the total geographical area. Under NDCs submitted to the Paris agreement, India has committed to creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5 billion to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent through forest and tree cover by the year 2030.There has been a small increment in India’s forest cover with carbon stock in the forests estimated to be around 7204 Mt in 2021.Indian forests have suffered large-scale exploitation owing to urbanization and economic activities. Besides, the arid conditions of Indian subcontinents render forests highly vulnerable to fires. Climate change further threatens the increase in the occurrences as well as the expanse of forest fires as past experiences suggest that high temperatures and drier conditions promote and prolong forest fires. Thorough and timely policy interventions are required to confront the future possibility of increased episodes of forest fires. Such interventions ensure that conservation and afforestation efforts are sustained and cut the carbon emissions associated with them.As the vast stretches of the land surface in Himalayan regions have already been denuded of forest cover, restoration of forest cover through public participation would not only improve the local soil and groundwater but also open many livelihood opportunities for the local people, in addition to benefitting climate.
Promoting the local Environment Stewardship
Today the environmental movement is a global phenomenon and is represented by individuals, groups, and a range of organizations from enterprises to grassroots, which vary from country to country and region to region. In general, environmental activists advocate the just and sustainable management of natural resources, and the protection of environmental goods through a change in public perception and public policy.World over, climate activists and pro-climate action politicians urge governments to take decisions and actions to add a sense of urgency for responding to short-term and long-term climate concerns. In response, many local and national governments in the past have declared climate emergencies to aware public of climate concerns as well as to take actions to avert the climate breakdown. There is global consensus now that climate mitigation must be dealt with on a broader scale involving nations and states, but for adaptation, actions are required at the local and regional levels. The adaptation strategies necessitate the role of local actors including municipalities, panchayats, businesses, NGOs, cooperatives, and self-help groups in shaping regional development and welfare activities. Public awareness can motivate citizens to adopt a minimalist lifestyle. Public awareness. Individual efforts like setting goals for the reduction of individual carbon footprints through walking, biking, carpooling and using public transit, etc. Shift to energy-efficient lighting and appliances, buy locally sourced, organic, plant-based, unprocessed foods, recycle, compost, etc.
In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, many individuals, local communities, environmental groups, NGOs, and educational institutions actively participate in various programs related to environmental awareness and conservation. The inclusion of indigenous peoples and local communities in environmental governance at the local levels and drawing from their knowledge not only enhances their quality of life but also strengthens conservation efforts. Active participation of individuals, small groups, NGOs, etc. strengthens conservation efforts and promotes sustainable practices. Climate change impacts are set to profoundly change global ecological and social systems, bringing about fundamental changes to human behavior. In addition to average temperature increases, societies also face increases in the frequency of extreme weather events, air pollution, and sea-level rise, posing an array of physical threats to human health and well-being, both directly and indirectly. These impacts are especially pronounced for citizens living in economically developing countries, particularly for those within developing countries who rely on natural resources to sustain their livelihoods. Stewardship actions can also be taken at diverse scales, from local to global efforts, and in both rural and urban contexts, could be of utmost importance for enhancing the regional adaptive capacity.
Environmental stewardship offers great potential for enhancing climate resilience and helping solve some of the issues related to climate extremes. Recognizing the potential of environmental stewardship by the regional government is a must to establish a community-based network.One such example of Environmental Stewardship has been the Bowli Warriors of the Udhampur district, a team of young professionals from diverse backgrounds. The efforts of Bowli Warriors rejuvenated hundreds of natural springs in the Udhampur regions, which have the potential to meet the water requirements of the entire Udhampur city. Many such efforts are being made in the other parts of the country with the traditionalknow-how.
(The authors are Assistant Professor, Department Professor, Department of Environental Sciences, University of Jammu & Senior Advocate, J&K High Court, and Chairman, Global Peace Organization)
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