Context
In 2014, the Indian Government announced the establishment of the National Institute for Climate Change Studies and Actions (NICCSA) as a subordinate body to the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC). Setting up NICCSA is a part of the Indian Climate Action Programme and is therefore an integral component of India’s climate strategy. NICCSA’s task is to coordinate and network with the Indian climate science sector and to process relevant scientific knowledge. The MoEFCC thereby intends to streamline its climate strategies.
Moreover, NICCSA is expected to contribute to both, India’s adaptation strategies and its position at the climate negotiations, as well as to support the achievement of its mitigation targets.
Objective
The project assists the MoEFCC in establishing NICCSA as a modern and widely recognised climate coordination centre that advises the Indian government in formulating climate policies and strategies, based on national and international scientific knowledge.
Approach
In order to reach the objective, the project develops and strengthens capacities of NICCSA, as well as of the technical and management personnel in the MoEFCC and in government bodies at the state level.
The project’s main activities are:
- Offering capacity development measures for future personnel of NICCSA for managing and processing climate knowledge and for networking and cooperating with national and international scientific research institutions.
- Supporting NICCSA in establishing, institutionalising, and managing networks with national and international research institutions.
- Supporting NICCSA in launching and managing a public climate information platform.
- Facilitating access to the international debate on climate change which allows the acquisition of knowledge for shaping national and international climate policy.
Expected Achievements
The project is expected to achieve the following main results:
- Strengthened institutional framework and management capacities of NICCSA:
Capacity building strategies for NICCSA and the national climate science institutions will be developed and the implementation process started. NICCSA will coordinate the climate science institutions at national level and will have developed close ties with the relevant institutions at state level.
- Enhanced national and international cooperation and dialogue with climate science institutions:
Long-term cooperation between Indian and the European public and private organisations and institutions in the field of climate science will be established. A new Indo-German expert group will successfully strengthen bilateral
cooperation on climate science, and will draft joint recommendations.
- Improved instruments and approaches for sustainable climate knowledge management:
NICCSA will set up a modern internal knowledge management system and establish a public knowledge platform. Building on the existing national and international knowledge, NICCSA will commission studies and draft policies and recommendations for climate negotiations.
- Improved access to funding information:
Agencies that are pitching for international climate funding (e.g. Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund, and the NAMA Facility) will have better access to technical and financial information and will benefit from more explicit policies.
- Increased protection of private sector investments:
A set of criteria for climate change resilient planning will be developed to help safeguard investments of private sector companies that operate in the field of climate change mitigation or adaptation.