The government is preparing for broad-based discussions with civil society organisations, elected representatives, and stakeholder communities on building resilience to climate change.
Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan said a participatory approach would be adopted to develop adaptation and mitigation strategies in key sectors.
The discussions will focus on fine-tuning and implementing the State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC), the base document that identifies the vulnerabilities of the State and recommends strategies to cope with climate change.
The SAPCC has come in for criticism from NGOs and stakeholder communities who feel that the absence of public consultation on the document reflects a bureaucratic approach to tackling climate change. Experts have also pointed out that the failure in carrying out vulnerability-mapping had left a huge gap in the plan.
Chittur MLA K. Krishnankutty, who raised the issue in the Assembly on Friday, said Kerala had failed to tap the funds set aside by the Centre and international agencies for climate change adaptation.
“Despite dire warnings about desertification, crop failure, inundation due to sea-level rise, and depletion of fish stock, Kerala lags far behind other States such as Tamil Nadu and Odisha in tapping funds for climate change mitigation,” he said.
Experts feel that the absence of a State policy on climate change mitigation and lack of coordination between different departments are affecting Kerala’s response to climate change.
The Minister told The Hindu that the government was also considering legislation for curbs on land use, under plans to build resilience to climate change. He said efforts were on to tap the Climate Adaptation Fund announced by the Central government.
The SAPCC, approved by the Centre last year, envisages a Budget requirement of Rs.1,170 crore for projects to mitigate the impact of climate change in Kerala. The five-year package has identified eight key sectors — agriculture and animal husbandry, fisheries and coastal ecosystem, forest and biodiversity, water resources, health, energy, urban front, and transport and tourism — for intervention.
The plan has listed Alappuzha, Palakkad, Wayanad, and Idukki districts as climate-change hotspots in Kerala, with a high degree of vulnerability to natural hazards such as flood and drought and impact on biodiversity and human life.
