NEW DELHI: Delhi is projected to suffer losses of Rs 2.75 trillion by 2050 due to the impacts of climate change, with changes in precipitation and temperature patterns posing significant threats to the lives of the most vulnerable populations. The warning comes from the city government’s draft action plan on climate change. The plan, which is pending approval, highlights “heat waves/higher temperature and heavy precipitation events over fewer number of days” as major challenges that the city will confront in the upcoming years.
India introduced its National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) in 2008, following which state governments were instructed to create their own action plans. The State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) must be aligned with the strategies laid out in the NAPCC. In January 2018, the central government directed the states to revise and strengthen their SAPCCs, taking into account the evolving national and international climate action, science and policy landscape.
Delhi’s previous climate action plan was finalised in 2019 — after a lengthy seven-year consultation with stakeholders — rendering it obsolete. “At an aggregate level, the total cost of climate change for Delhi by mid-century is expected to be Rs 2.75 trillion,” the draft action plan states. It estimates the losses from the agriculture and allied sectors at Rs 80 billion, manufacturing at Rs 330 billion and services at Rs 2.34 trillion.
During the formulation of the new action plan, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report (IPCC AR6) was examined, analysing the impacts of different climate scenarios on annual maximum and minimum temperatures and precipitation, an expert who contributed to the plan said. The projections show a rise in maximum temperatures in Delhi by 1.5 degrees Celsius.