By Nakul Mohan Heble
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change claims it will need $2.5 trillion (Rs 183 lakh crore) to fight climate change between 2015 and 2030.
Current spending from all sources, while much lower, is still significant and has ensured a steady flow of climate-friendly projects and programmes, transforming India’s position as a global climate leader.
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Adaptation projects in India have slowly begun to penetrate sectors invested in climate resilience, disaster-risk reduction and preparedness. However, project proponents are yet to grasp the importance of human-nature interactions.
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We need to understand how much risk is acceptable, but the shared landscape of project prerogatives and risk is not easy to navigate. CAPs’ successes may come at social and ecological costs, despite early signs – signs like protests, red-flagged ecological consequences and land alienation. Often project proponents elect to ignore them, or choose to deal with them later. These choices are in turn made possible by political patronage, regulatory circumventing and corruption (e.g. bribing).