PANAJI
Goa government is all set to operationalise its much-delayed State Action Plan for Climate Change (SAPCC) 2023-33, almost a year after it was approved by the Union Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
Interestingly, the crucial document that warns about possible significant impact of climate change on all key economic sectors in the State was approved by the State Cabinet way back in 2020.
The plan prepared by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), was approved and adopted by the State Cabinet in October 2020, while the Union Ministry granted its approval only in February 2023. The plan will enable the State to take adaptation and mitigation measures to deal with climate change.
The State’s move to set up a Blended Finance Facility with the help of World Bank, is a first step towards operationalisation of the SAPCC.
“The facility will help in operationalisation of Goa’s State Action Plan on Climate Change (2023-2033) which entails building institutional and technical capacity, investing in resilient infrastructure, re-skilling for high-productivity jobs, and orienting the local economy around more resilient livelihoods,” official said.
“We agree that there has been a delay in implementing the action plan but there is lot of funding involved covering almost all sectors. The initial delay was on part of Union Ministry, that had sought several clarifications on the plan before granting its approval. For nearly one and half year, the plan was lying with them,” official said.
The SAPCC seeks to adopt a holistic approach in all spheres of development such as transportation, power sector, agriculture, forest, fisheries and allied sectors, environment and waste management, water, tourism, mining, human health. It also focuses on mitigation and adaption strategies across these sectors.
The total budget required for implementing the SAPCC has been projected to be Rs 465 crore for 10 years, which works out to be Rs 46.5 crore per annum and amounts to approximately 0.22 per cent of the annual budget and 0.050 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Production (GSDP) of the State.
According to the report, communities living in low-lying areas, informal settlements such as slum population, people with disabilities and those whose livelihood depend mainly on khazan lands are the immediate and most vulnerable groups. Also, increasing frequency of very heavy and exceptionally heavy rainfall events in Goa is one of the key impacts of climate change witnessed in the State.
