117

Reports

Climate Change, Vulnerabilities and Livelihood Resilience:

Towards Sustainable Water Policy and Water Governance

The MIDS – IWMI-Tata Water Policy Programme sponsored workshop on

Climate Change, Vulnerabilities and Livelihood Resilience: Towards Sustainable
Water Policy and Water Governance, was held in the Malcolm Adiseshiah
Auditorium, Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), Chennai between
August 26-27, 2009. Altogether 42 people attended the workshop from the
academic community, NGOs and bureaucracy.
Professor S. Janakarajan welcomed the participants and explained the
objectives of the workshop. He emphasized that climate change impact was going
to fall disproportionately on the shoulders of poor countries in Africa, South Asia
and Latin America. He also indicated that it is likely to impact adversely entire
eco-systems, hydrological systems, water resources, agricultural production and
existing livelihood options.
Professor Anand Patwardhan, IIT, Mumbai gave the keynote address on the
theme, “Towards an Integrated Research Agenda for Adaptation: Science, Policy
and Practice”. He emphasized the asymmetry in distribution of climate change
impacts on the rich and the poor. He indicated that mitigation was not enough and
added that regardless of mitigation, countries were confronted with a significant
number of anthropogenic factors contributing adversely to development of the
country. He also argued that managing climate risk is important for achieving
sustainable development.
There were four presentations in the Technical Session 1 which focused on
the broad theme “Climate Change and Eco-system Vulnerability”. The first paper
was presented by Dr. Ishwar who spoke on “Biodiversity and Climate Change:
Some Facts from India”. The second presentation was made by Dr. Thomson
Jacob who spoke on “Impacts of Climate Change on Arid, Semi-arid and Coastal
Regions of India” with a particular focus on Tamilnadu and Orissa’s coastal
extreme events. The third presentation was by Dr. S. Balaji, Member–Secretary
of the Forest Commission constituted by the Government of Tamil Nadu. His
presentation was on the theme of “Forests and Climate Change Threats”. The
fourth presentation was Professor S. Janakarajan’s on “Vulnerability of Coastal
and Deltaic Eco-systems to Climate Change with a particular focus on the Cauvery
Delta in Tamilnadu”.
Review of Development & Change, Vol. XV, No.1, January-June 2010, pp. 117-123
118 Report
Technical Session 2 was devoted to “Climate Change Impacts on Water
Resources and Livelihoods”. Three presentations were made in this session.
The first presentation was by Professor K. Palanisamy on “Assessment of
Vulnerability and Quantifying the Impacts of Climate Change on Crop Production
in Tamilnadu”. The second presentation was by Dr. Geetha Lakshmi on
“Sustaining Rice Production Amidst Changing Climate in the Cauvery Basin”.
The third presentation was by Professor Maria Saleth on “Climate Change and
Water Policy in India”.
On the second day, Technical Session 3, there were three presentations:
“Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment: Moving Beyond Indicators” by
Professor K.S. Kavikumar, “Climate Change and Vulnerability Analysis with
Reference to Coastal Orissa” by Dr. L.Venkatachalam and Mr.Chandrasekara
Bagnipati and a presentation on “The Need for Sustainable Consumption as an
Adaptive Strategy to Combat Climate Change” by Dr. Elangovan. Technical
Session 4 was devoted entirely to Professor Tushaar Shah’s presentation on
“Climate Change and Groundwater: India’s Opportunities for Adaptation and
Mitigation”. He emphasized the role of groundwater banking in overcoming the
threats posed by climate change. This was followed by a discussion initiated by
Prof. Ramaswamy R. Iyer. The final session was set aside for a panel discussion
on global dialogue on climate change and climate justice. The panel discussion was
initiated by Professor S. Janakarajan followed by a presentation of observations
by panelists, namely Professor Tushaar Shah, Professor K.S. Kavikumar, Dr.
Vijayakumar and Dr. G. Kumaravelu. This session was chaired by Professor
Ramaswamy Iyer.
The major outcome of the workshop was the synthesis of the work done on
vulnerability methodology and quantification of the impact of climate change.
Climate justice was well outlined and future lines of work were highlighted. The
major recommendations included the following:
• The need to build a systematic data base on climate change, vulnerability of
eco-systems and vulnerable sections of the population;
• The need to develop a systematic methodology in order to understand and
document macro and micro level vulnerabilities;
• The need to systematize planning and development strategies of the government
and mainstream climate change and adaptation strategy as a part of the
government’s approach to five year plans;
• The need to explore the possibility of building partnerships at all levels -
regional, national and international – partnering with academics, NGOs, funding
institutions, global multilateral organizations such as the World Bank, ADB
and UN institutions such as UNDP.
The workshop came to a close with a vote of thanks by Professor
S. Janakarajan.
S. Janakarajan
MIDS, Chennai
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