Most innovative energy ventures are high on the “clean” agenda but low on the “social” agenda. Solar parks, wind farms and other renewable sources generate sustainable power but struggle to generate a significant amount of sustainable employment. The same can be said of Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) supported by leaders of the international business world. This US$1 billion fund aimed to fight climate change by investing in clean energy innovations worldwide, but fails to understand that until the poor have a sustainable source of income nothing is affordable and climate issues are an insignificant driver in decision making. A coal mining firm offering job security is a more attractive employer to the poor than a global venture talking about climate security.

This has been proven by a recent study from the Centre for Policy Research on co-benefit approaches, which suggests that multi-objectives around socio-economic development need to be identified and addressed through large programmes, schemes, ventures and initiatives. Work by the Centre for Policy Research, supported by CDKN, on Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis explained through a cooking fuel case study that, while all modern technologies may be available to a consumer in either an urban or rural set-up, consumers often show bias towards cultural sensitivity and the cost of buying and maintaining the technologies. Green innovation rarely builds a market framework that can cater to after-sales service requirements, while these additional needs can make or break a shift towards environmental solutions.

Thus, the true success of these funds depends on lower emission matched with higher levels of social development worldwide. If these two benefits are achieved, these funds will set a course towards transformative investment.

Manoj Shah, a young and energetic rural entrepreneur from the Katsa district of Bihar, who owns a 10KW Solar plant which lights 120 households and provides employment to young people. A CDKN supported initiative. Picture credit: Aditi Paul

Examples of such co-benefits being realised are ample. For instance, the CDKN supported initiative ‘Franchisee Model for supporting Decentralised Rural Electrification using Solar Power’ sets time-tested business models for India’s private sector to follow. While there is significant risk involved in investing in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, states with political instabilities which can threaten ongoing work, the enthusiasm of the local energy entrepreneurs transformed into Renewable Energy Agents has been inspirational. With partners Technology and Action for Rural Advancement and cKinetics, CDKN piloted four projects with village entrepreneurs to establish, run and manage new small-scale solar plants fully financed by the private sector. The business models accessed a mix of equity and loans and has been running successfully for the past year with full recovery measures in place to strengthen local enterprise and support youth employment. It now needs to be scaled-up. The investors behind BEV are ready to provide funding for start-ups and established businesses from 2017.

The need for innovation in clean energy is long recognised and the role global investments can play was underlined at the 5^th Annual Summit of Sustainable Business Leadership Forum in New Delhi in 2015. Ckinetics, the forum organisers, enlisted investment needs in innovations in management use, finance, dissemination, and popularisation of clean technology for hyper-growth. Thus the 20 year BEV fund, with aims to invest in the commercialisation of breakthrough technologies in key areas of electricity generation and storage, transportation, industrial processes, agriculture, and energy-system efficiency, can also look into softer yet crucial issues which lead to real breakthroughs and social change.

India has ambitious plans to move to a low carbon economy, detailed by Kirit Parikh of IRADe. His report categorically states the importance of inclusive growth and identifies ways for India achieve it while moving towards a green economy. Private sector funds and venture capitalists must now think along these lines.

The National Solar Mission of India was first conceived as part of the National Action Plan on Climate Change; climate issues and other social issues can actually drive the development agenda and create more business space. There is a significant amount of evidence across the world today that social agendas are driving innovation in the business sector.

Thus not only investment in breakthrough technologies is needed, but also the co-creation of skills and knowledge through creating more green jobs to enhance the use of such technologies.  Breakthrough ideas should come with knowledge development and capability enhancement plans, as they are key to success. The World Sustainable Development Summit in New Delhi in October 2016 called for suitable investments in transboundary knowledge creation. Global initiatives like BEV are perhaps the right places to embark such knowledge brokering ideas.

Jagan Shah, Director of the National Institute of Urban Affairs, argued that it is smart for a city to be clean in its use of energy, but smarter when it address near-term needs of people, growth and security, at the National Consultation Planning for Heatwave Management in India in New Delhi in September 2016. Such green investments will and can make a major difference to levels of emission and social development in cities across India, and Asia as a whole.

Picture on right: Woman with solar panel, courtesy DFID. Picture on left: Manoj Shah, an entrepreneur from the Katsa district of Bihar, courtesy Aditi Paul

The post OPINION: No excuses on clean energy appeared first on Climate and Development Knowledge Network.

In the Indian state of Uttarakhand, CDKN is working with the State Government to meet its goals to produce a climate change vulnerability assessment. Our assessment is not just about the slow-onset impacts of climate change: we have expanded the scope of work to look at the risk of floods and landslides in recognition of the increased number of extreme events and their impacts in the state.

The vulnerability assessment is the first action by the Government from their State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC). Our project aims to support the delivery of the plan.

An expert local supplier team (ICF, IISc, INRM, CHEA) together with State Government champions have designed a framework for the methodology.  It marries a data-rich, indicator-based approach from the ‘top down’, together with a bottom-up approach which involves the community in vulnerability mapping.

All partners agree that there is a risk that the vulnerability assessment will be a standalone initiative, rather than a decision-making tool which directly facilitates the delivery of the SAPCC. Therefore, we decided to draw upon the learning from other CDKN vulnerability assessments, from partners across the world, and to build on their expertise to forge an effective local process of our own.

CDKN’s learning initiative

A small group of expert CDKN partners was convened to act as a learning group for this initiative. This included drawing on the wisdom and experience of CDKN’s staff and partners who had guided vulnerability assessment processes in Cartagena, Colombia; Alto Cauca, Colombia; and in the Caribbean.  The learning group identified and developed two equally important parts, each complementing the other by providing inputs and outputs to each other:

• The vulnerability assessment itself, and
• A connected process of engaging stakeholders and institutionalising the findings of the assessment – ensuring that the findings are truly owned by the individuals and institutions who need to act on it.

Engaging stakeholders and encouraging institutions to ‘own’ the process

Engagement and institutionalisation are often the weakest part of vulnerability assessment approaches. They need to be given equal weight with the scientific process. A distinct strategy or plan is therefore required, perhaps multiple plans, to address different aspects of engagement and institutionalisation of the vulnerability assessment. Adequate time, resources and staffing should also be allocated for this activity.

In Uttarakhand, the engagement process has been multi-faceted. It has been important to engage with the State Government at all levels. This includes key ‘champions’ at the higher echelons, who will drive the uptake of vulnerability assessment findings in decision-making processes. It also includes the level of government officials below who will provide data and inside stories on both climatic and non-climatic factors that deepen vulnerability. They will carry on with the process even when the ‘champions’ shift position or move out.

The project team has been successfully engaging with the departmental heads and sector secretaries in a formal way through large workshops and small and focused group presentations, converting them into ‘champions’ to receive the vulnerability assessment results. At the onset, the project team engaged only with a nodal person from the government’s end. However, they soon realised that in order to strengthen ownership of the project, more sector champions had to be identified – and apart from sector champions, participation from the planning and finance departments is equally crucial. However, since the planning and finance departments deal less with pure science and ecosystem studies, the engagement has been necessarily kept broad for easy exchange of conversations and feedback.

Engaging with the bureaucrats a level below the champions has been more informal. On a day to day basis, the project team has explained its need for information, and has described how the data is being applied in the vulnerability assessment – as well as how the results will help government officers in planning. Both technical reports and easy-to-read policy briefs have been developed to engage with this group of the stakeholders. Knowledge products – such as short and easily-understood project briefs and presentations – have been the showstopper!

Engagement with legislators and politicians has been the most difficult dialogue so far. While their availability has always been constraining, political differences between ruling and opposition government has been necessarily kept out of the purview of the project.

In terms of engaging with the large community groups, the project team is working with local NGOs and networks of academic institutions. Formal partnership has been developed for local surveys and workshops. The objective of this engagement stream has been to share the methodology of conducting a vulnerability study, so that these groups can support government in reviewing and revising the findings of the vulnerability assessment with changing scenarios in future. Further, engagement with the community has been largely non-technical in nature, sharing the objectives and benefits of the study in the vernacular language.

Effective communications – secret of success

What’s been the secret to success in engaging audiences in Uttarakhand? As much as possible, we found that the communication work should use human interest and real life ‘stories’, which the Government and general public can relate to. Media is the most efficient tool for initiating public opinion and sharing concepts. We have used press releases and briefings to engage journalists and encourage coverage of the vulnerability assessment work. Journalists can also become allies in helping the project team to translate technical language and terminologies into more straightforward explanations for ‘everyday people’. For example, while interacting with communities, the concept of ‘vulnerability to climate change’ can be expressed as ‘loss of life and livelihood from flood and landslides’, as Uttarakhand is prone to these.

Acting on stakeholders’ feedback

CDKN and its partners’ experiences in running a climate vulnerability assessment in Uttarakhand really show why the project and process must be introduced to all stakeholders who may be impacted by climate change. A final and vital lessons learned has emerged from our experience, as we finalise the vulnerability assessment and move towards supporting the State Government of Uttarakhand in crafting climate adaptation guidelines. Our lesson and recommendation is this: informing climate-affected people about the project and gathering information from them about the vulnerability assessment is itself not enough. The project team needs to have a protocol, by which all communication and feedback from stakeholders is logged and incorporated appropriately in the vulnerability assessment.  Stakeholders need to know that they are being listened to. This will make them feel important, and recognised, and will encourage them to participate enthusiastically in the ongoing assessment process and its next steps.

Next steps

The learning group has urged CDKN and the Uttarakhand project team to:

• Develop a common understanding, set of ‘principles’ of how vulnerability assessments can be used within a wider decision-making process to inform the follow-on work plan in Uttarakhand; and
• Identify other inputs needed to support the positioning of the vulnerability assessment in the SAPCC, for example: capacity building and awareness raising; institutional strengthening etc.

Building on the comprehensive work we have done so far, we look forward to consolidating and publishing these next outputs, which can support the State Government in taking action in the years ahead.

Please keep up to date with our project progress here:

Vulnerability and risk assessment to support implementation of the Uttarakhand Action Plan on Climate Change

Image: Uttarakhand, 2013 floodwaters, credit Diariocritico de Venezuela, flickr.com

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Data heavy, full of uncertainties and jargon, and completely detached from real-world policymaking – these are some of the charges often laid at climate vulnerability assessments. Yet such detailed studies, when coherent, credible and clearly communicated, can form the cornerstone of adaptation planning, shape public policy and help future-proof investment decisions.

In India, a CDKN team of local experts partnered with the Uttarakhand State Government to conduct such an assessment as part of the State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC). The experts formed a learning group to brainstorm a common set of principles that ensure assessments are applicable to wider decision-making processes.

Climate change may be a global challenge, but adaptation is site-specific. We therefore also looked to CDKN partners around the world to find the holy grail of vulnerability assessments with policy impact. We found that a high-level of confidence delivered through a multi-faceted engagement plan is key. Here are our seven top tips on who, why, how, and when to engage:

1. Get to know the machinery of government policymaking. Vulnerability assessments rarely seek to meet government demand or even understand wider political priorities, which we found to be essential in India. Find out about programme planning and policy processes to identify your entry points before you even begin engaging.
2. Identify champions within government to drive things forward. Although all levels of state government were targeted, insider champions were central to success in Uttarakhand. Influential politicians should be engaged from the outset and sold on the concept of evidenced-based decision-making, while climate knowledge gaps among key people should be addressed.
3. Be inclusive of broader groups for long-term sustainability. People with power come and go, but officials a level below not only provide data and stories, they keep the process going when politicians move on. Sector champions and planning and finance departments should also be included to strengthen ownership of the project.
4. Tailor your approach and products to each audience. Short and easy-to-read policy briefs work well for mid-level bureaucrats, while politicians require careful planning around busy schedules and diplomatic handling when talking to opposing political parties. Exchanges with admin departments should be broad and accessible, so not as to alienate staff with too much science speak.
5. Tell an engaging story with a clear message. Communications should have a clear narrative and a relatable message that resonate with the target audience. Human-interest stories and case studies aren’t just for the general public; policymakers are normal people too. The media also like stories and can be used to spread your messages, change public perceptions and generate political will.
6. Make community engagement a priority. The entire process should be inclusive of those with the biggest vested interest – communities vulnerable to climate change. Assessments carry a lot of uncertainty, which can make them less meaningful to the average person on the street. Community engagement should therefore focus on the objectives and benefits, rather than technical aspects, and should be done in simple language or local dialects.
7. Work with local organisations to create a project legacy. Vulnerability assessments should be living documents, reviewed and revised by local organisations according to new information and the latest climate projections. The CDKN team worked with NGOs and academic institutions to conduct surveys and workshops and pass on assessment methodologies so that civil society can participate in future government reviews.

Engagement is often the weakest link in many vulnerability assessments, but it really should be given equal weight to the scientific process. A distinct strategy or plan is needed, and adequate time, investment and human resources. Make engagement integral to each project, and not just an after thought. Ask yourself, do you want your hard work sitting unread in a drawer, or should it be out there in the world – still evolving and saving lives?

Image: families affected by flash floods, Uttarakhand, India, credit European Commission

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India’s capital city New Delhi is now in the grip of a deadly dengue epidemic. It has only been a couple of months since India has recovered from a searing heat wave that left many dead.

Dengue is an extremely dangerous mosquito-borne virus, infecting 100 million people annually, and killing 20,000 each year according to the World Health Organisation (WHO); there is currently no vaccine or cure for this often-fatal disease worsening our health and well being. Considered to be urban-centric, the most at risk arechildren, especially those from poorerareas, the elderly, andthose with underlying health issues.

With 1,800 cases reported in past few weeks, including fatal cases the recent outbreak of dengue in New Delhi, has actually posed serious questions on both the efficiency of the local health infrastructure and preventive management of infectious diseases and well being.Then there is climate change; many public health practitioners believe has led to temporal (window period of transmission) and geographical expansion of the virus and its vector – the female mosquitoes (Aedes).

The climate connect  

Transmission of the dengue virus is dependent on weather conditions, especially temperature variances, rainfall and relative humidity. Studieson the potential impacts of climate change on dengue spread indicates increased climatic suitability with increasing warmer and wetterconditionslengthening the transmission period.Under certain conditions, inter-annual deviation in local or regional climate linked to El-Nino may regulate the temporal and spatial dynamics of dengue.

According to IPCC findings, modeling studies (Jetten and Focks, 1997; Martens et al., 1997; Patz et al., 1998a) suggest that a warming projection of 2°C by 2100 will result in a net increase in the potential range, and duration of the dengue menace.

Non-climatic stressors

According to the study conducted by United Nations University of International Institute for Global Health, vector borne diseases are not only spreading to areas of the world not infected before but are also beginning to turn into epidemics. Both climatic and non-climatic stressors are responsible for current conditions.

The study applied a Water Associated Disease Index to understand vulnerability to dengue at a global scale. The study considered the propensity of a system to be adversely affected by dengue, conditions that support the presence and transmission of the disease and the socio-economic, and political condition that reflects community and individual susceptibility level.

The study led to dengue-infected vulnerability maps – both at the global and country level; India came in as highly vulnerable, located closer to equator, with conditions ideal for dengue to prosper such as high population density, inadequate urban planning and municipal services (sanitation and waste management), low access to health care facilities, and lack of climate compatible public health policies and control measures.

Thus, the combined effect of climate change and deficiencies in pro-active and preventative planning systems of both land-use patterns and public health care system have caused the crisis which now grips New Delhi.

How to arrest the threat

Climate change is here. The question is now of adaption and mitigation. The global community agreeing to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate change, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C at this year’s COP21 may help bring some relief. We also need to consider preventive measures;effective ones by educating communities about the risks from climate change and its impact including spreading infectious diseases.

Community awareness has always been a challenge especially in countries like in India where about one third of the global poor reside; outreach is difficult. However, there are innovative models ideas which work well, such as CDKN’s Heat Health initiative in India. The project’s media campaign, in vernacular language utilised local radio and text messaging to spread the message.Similarly, another CDKN sponsored project on disaster risk management in Gorakhpur translated complex climate science information into the local language and again used text messaging to keep farmers in the loop. The project also experimented with the ‘Women of the Community’ concept – transforming them into ‘Change and Chain Agents’ for sharinglessons with the community. ‘Nukkad Natak’ (Street Theatre Workshops) proved popular; visual expressionshaving a bigger impact where literacy is low!

India has recently announced over a hundred ‘Smart City Schemes’, with the objective ofpromotingeconomic growth, improve governance, and the delivery more effective and efficient public services. Climate change and pollutionare, however, low on the agenda. An integrated approach of build and remodeling the cities is required – where affordable housing with livelihood support and climate change adaptation measures are at the top of the development agenda.

Successful future management of infectious diseases from climate change requires an understanding of the dynamics of the virus, host, vector, and environmental factors especially in the context of a changing climate. A proper representation would be that public health and climate change are inter-connected.

Picture Courtesy: Gurinder Osan/AP

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A documentary film produced through the CDKN- ICLEI initiative for sub-national learning, “For A Safer Future”, received it’s premiered in India, New Delhi, on 9th of September.

Featuring some of the next practices as an answer to complex issues of integrating climate information into disaster risk planning,the film showcases a more robust, definite strategy towards addressing climate induced disasters and their ensuing fallout. TERI India have effectively manged to highlight the extreme events challenges faced by the people of Gorakhpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh and how the “Shared Learning Dialogue Mechanism” has made for an effective, holistic response.

Designed by the Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group (GEAG) , in association with ISET-International, India and National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), the film is about empowerment -knowledge of changing weather patterns and adapting to climate change by applying local solutions to local issues; with views of district authorities to civil societies organisations to farming communities, the film helps the viewer understand the unified message of driving an agenda collectively, especially that of women as change agents – catalysts in helping reduce climate vulnerability, enhance adaptation capacity and build community resilience.

The showing was followed by a lively question and answer session on the issues raised in the film. While applauding the efforts of all this behind the film, Mr. Anil Kumar from NIDM expressed certain reservations. “We have come a long-way through our project supported by CDKN. However, until there a wider scale application of such initiatives, we will remain effective in saving Gorakhpur only”.

Dr. B. N. Sathpathy from NITI Aayog, known as the policy think-tank of the Government of India, said: “There should be more such films, asorganisations such NITI Aayog can use them as an effective learning tools”. He also spoke on thefour essential elements for effective integration between CCA and DRR ; villages/ communities as units of integration, use of efficient technology for forecasting,generating resources to support implementation and exploring mechanisms for bringinghome lessons learned on the ground to policy makers. The film actually addresses all these elements, he said, except for “a need of a framework for policy inputs”.

Mr. Amit Mitra, a disaster management and gender equality expert, termed the film an effective “visual document” and said that 20mins is not enough to capture the transformation in Gorakhpur. Echoing Dr. Sathpathy’s remarks, he said the film can be a good tool for training purposes but needs to be supported by more case study materials.

Mr. Sunandan Tiwari from ICLEI stated that “if a film like this can stimulate an effective discussion, our job is more or less done”!

In conclusion, Mr. Kamal Kishore, from National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said that “the film conveys a rich, multi-layeredmessage. Diversification of risk at farm level, inclusive planning by local authorities, using local innovations to save lives during disaster and preventive planning well presented in the film”.

So for CDKN, the event was a success on two fronts – Policy and Knowledge: The project has made the great leap forward through the success of the Gorakhpur project; more importantly, through film, it has managed to effectively convey the positives of the project.

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Heat waves are not new in India; they come every year and end with the approach of the monsoon, as is the understanding of the locals. But this year, the country is grappling with week-long temperatures topping 47-48 degrees Celsius in many parts of the country, with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana the worst hit states.

According to the Global Statistics on Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT), maintained by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), India is facing its second deadliest heat wave ever. EM-DAT also shows that this is the world’s fifth deadliest heat wave. At the time of writing, the death toll has been estimated at 2000+. Many more deaths potentially remain unreported, especially in rural areas where farmers are also reporting the impact of the high temperatures and water crisis on their crop.

In 1998, the death toll from India’s most deadly heat wave reached 2,541, killing the vulnerable, women and children without sufficient access to water, electricity and primary health services. Subsequent heat waves in 2002, 2003 and 2010 also saw high numbers of casualties. Research indicates that those areas already experiencing heat waves will see ones that are longer lasting and greater in intensity, while parts of the country that have never been exposed to such heat will experience unfamiliarly extreme conditions; their existing healthcare facilities are likely to collapse under overwhelming demand for treatment and emergency services. So, the concern remains and as the emergency experts ask – is the government’s ability to respond to the crisis enough, or is comprehensively preparing for and mitigating the impacts of the extreme weather still a far cry?

CDKN’s action to beat the heat

CDKN recognises that heat waves are going to continue to have disastrous impacts unless proactive measures are taken to adapt. Since 2013, we have been actively working to support climate resilience in India, piloting action research in Ahmedabad to understand the impacts of the heat waves that the city grapples with every year – and supporting measures to save lives. The results are quite remarkable.

The first of its kind in Asia, the study drew together research to show the correlation between the heat waves and deaths in Ahmedabad in 2010 and found an excess of more than 1,000 deaths compared to other years. Our partners at the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) and the Indian Institute of Public Health subsequently collaborated with the city government of Ahmedabad to put in place a system to save lives during heat waves: The Ahmedabad Heat Health Action Plan.

The Plan puts in place an early warning system for residents, provides preparation training to medical and community workers, builds public awareness of the heat-related risks, and coordinates an inter-agency emergency response efforts when heat waves hit. “Ahmedabad’s most vulnerable populations have been carefully identified through on-the-ground studies, focus groups, interviews and workshops that considered factors affecting heat exposure, susceptibility to heat-related illness and adaptive capacity,” explained Dr. Jeremy Hess, Assistant Professor of Environmental Health at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University. “Ahmedabad’s Heat Action Plan is tailored to help the city’s at-risk residents cope with rising heat.”

This year, the team is ensuring the Action Plan is mainstreamed within the government system and is reaching vulnerable communities. In order to safeguard the project’s continuity, they are building a strong surveillance and monitoring system to evaluate the effectiveness of the Plan, which would not have been possible without the government’s leadership and foresight in deepening implementation, changing policies and operationalising an effective early warning system.

The Plan has been recognised nationally and internationally for its success and has been placed in the top twenty at the Munich Re Risk Award 2015, which was presented at the World Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, March 2015. Recognising its co-benefits, CDKN has ventured into a 3-year project to support the scaling-up the Plan in the State of Gujarat, the scaling-out of the Plan in two new cities, and is leveraging its knowledge network for wider adoption.

Effective Mitigation Measures Needed

There is long way to go before we can feel safe under the scorching sun and haywire temperatures.  Indian cities with increased urbanisation are susceptible to the heat island effect and have inadequate health infrastructure to combat epidemic conditions; it’s time that these issues were dealt with strategically at the national level. Calls for their recognition in the country’s Disaster Action Plan – a well-integrated, thought-out, time-bound plan with supportive institutional machineries in place to implement and monitor effectiveness, while also customised to local level to support a city’s socio-economical and geographical settings – are pressing.

Such inclusion may involve short-term measures to generate awareness of heat-related risks, such as guidance on Do’s and Don’t’s during heat waves. It may promote early warning systems and interagency coordination to address the extreme events. The medium-term measures might focus on infrastructure provisioning and improving access to adequate health services, shelter and water for the vulnerable. The long-term action requires policy changes. Such climate considerations in future urban planning should incorporate building codes that include heat-reflecting materials and adequate natural ventilation; shaded landscaping to provide temporary shelter; parks and grassland for ground-water recharge, and; an integrated land-use and transport planning that reduces motorised pollution. These are only possible when city officials and planners fully recognise the impacts of climate change and the current inherent vulnerability of their citizens and systems.

Image credit: IIPH.

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