ITANAGAR: NABARD, as a National Implementing Entity (NIE) for National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC) organized a stakeholders’ meet on climate change to create awareness about various funding sources and mobilize projects under NAFCC in its Itanagar Office on Tuesday.
Chief Guest, Principal Secretary, DEFCC Dr. Rabindra Kumar, threw light on various issues, challenges and potential areas of action in the field of climate change. He apprised about various projections related to climate change and how it would affect people of Arunachal Pradesh. He indicated that State of Arunachal is quite vulnerable in terms of agriculture, water resources, biodiversity, horticulture etc. and people dependent on these sectors/areas. He also informed that absence of baseline (historical/past) data is a major challenge for conceiving of suitable projects and there is a need to revise State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC). He further added that we need to preserve flora and fauna of State by way of adopting suitable climate adaptation projects. He appealed to all the Departments like Agriculture, Water Resource, Horticulture, Soil & Water Conservation, and Animal Husbandry to prepare Project Concept Notes and submit to the Nodal Department for approval by State Level Steering Committee on Climate Change (SLSCC).
General Manager, NABARD Dr. Gyanendra Mani informed the participants that NABARD as a National Implementing Entity has facilitated sanctioning of 27 projects under National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC) set up with Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), GoI, 06 projects under Adaptation Fund and 02 projects under Green Climate Fund (GCF) set up by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Various funding mechanisms available for climate change projects, ways to access resources were elaborated and all the participants were requested to work in a coordinated way to develop a proposal on climate change to be submitted to MoEF&CC, GoI under NAFCC so that adaptive capacities of vulnerable people, communities and regions can be enhance to mitigate impacts of climate change.
The participants from various line departments mainly Chief Engineer, Directors and Joint Directors from forest Dept., Water Resource Dept, Agriculture Dept. Soil Conservation Dept and Research Universities/KVKs had thorough deliberations and came out with project ideas which can be further worked upon and submitted under NAFCC to MoEF&CC, GoI for funding. Joint Director, Dept of Environment and Forest, Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh, D Dohu Robin, requested NABARD to facilitate in preparation of Detailed Project Report/ Project Concept Note for sanction by MoEF&CC under NAFCC.