A climate vulnerability index for India

Headline : A climate vulnerability index for India

Details :

News Summary

• India will soon have a climate-vulnerability index which will be developed by Department of Science and Technology(DST).
• It is being modeled on the basis of a similar climate-vulnerability assessment done on 12 Himalayan states in 2018.

Climate Vulnerability Index

• The Climate Vulnerability Index will be developed on the basis of a study being carried out assessing the climate risks faced across all states.
• The DST will also develop a Climate Portal that presents district-wise data relating to climate vulnerability.
• Vulnerability would be a measure of the inherent risks a district faces, primarily by virtue of its geography and socio-economic situation.
• The districts will be assigned a value between 0 to 1, 1 indicating the highest level of vulnerability.
• Parameters: The index will be developed based on 8 key parameters
  • Percentage of area under forests
  • Yield variability of food grain
  • Population density
  • Female literacy rate
  • Infant mortality rate
  • Percentage of population below poverty line
  • Average man-days under MGNREGA
  • Area under slope greater than 30%.

Need for the vulnerability index

• Climate variability in temperature and rainfall affect biophysical and socio-economic environment.
• Climate variability exposes environment to the following adverse effects:
  • Land degradation
  • Deforestation
  • Proliferation of invasive species
  • Loss of biodiversity
  • Landslides
  • Invasion of commercial crops
  • Low productive agriculture
  • Changed livelihood patterns
  • Marginalization and consequent Migration

Background

• In the backdrop of COP-24 at Katowice Poland, India had had done a study to assess climate vulnerability of 12 Himalayan States.
• The Himalayan states include Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, hill districts of West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir.

Importance of the study

• Himalayan ecosystem is vital to the ecological security of the India due to following:
  • Plays a crucial role in providing forest cover
  • Feeds perennial rivers that are the source of drinking water, irrigation, and hydropower
  • Biodiversity conservation
  • Rich base for high-value agriculture
  • Sustainable tourism