Jharkhand has potential to showcase climate resilient future: Experts

Hosted by ASAR and Policy & Development Advisory Group (PDAG), national level dialogue discusses a climate resilient future in Jharkhand

Addressing the potential effects of climate change, a conference on Saturday highlighted the need to focus on climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies for states like Jharkhand, to include them in the national policy discourse.

The conference, “Building a Climate Resilient Jharkhand”, was organised by ASAR and Policy & Development Advisory Group (PDAG) in Ranchi, deliberated on issues related to climate change and its impact in Jharkhand, and the possible policy roadmap to ensure transition to renewable energy sources.

Jharkhand has the potential to show that even small can be big when it comes to building climate resilience, said Vinuta Gopal, CEO, ASAR while inaugurating the conference.

The conference brought together key stakeholders from the government, academia and civil society across India to deliberate upon three overarching themes - climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies in Jharkhand, decentralised renewable energy systems and access to reliable energy and ensuring just transition.

“The need is to leverage Local knowledge brought to light through knowledge co-creation from work on and interaction at the ground level. This will help build research that supports action and implementation of a climate change resilient Jharkhand,” said Dr Anjal Prakash, Research director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy.

The conference was divided into three sessions. The first session, "Climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies in Jharkhand", was focused on understanding the impact of climate change on broadly two sectors; agriculture and non-timber forest produce (NTFPs). The second session, "Decentralised renewable energy system and access to reliable energy' discussed the efforts being made towards decarbonising the world economy. And finally, "Ensuring Just Transition" talked about potential strategies and trade-offs related to phasing out of coal dependency, and transitioning to renewable power.

The session panellists discussed the IPCC findings as well and their relevance for Jharkhand, home to over 27 per cent tribal population which is heavily dependent on agriculture and NTPFs.

The session also deliberated upon the prospective role of Jharkhand Solar Policy 2022 in helping the state reduce its dependence on coal-based power.

The session highlighted the current social, political and economic barriers for just transition and focused on how existing government funds like District Mineral Foundation Trust can be utilised to provide alternative sustainable sources of livelihood to workers.