Environmental Planning & Coordination Organization
India

The Problem

Madhya Pradesh (MP) is the second largest state of India with rich natural resource base. Livelihood of 2/3 population of the state are drawn from natural resources. The efforts of state government have produced fruitful results in uplifting the life of people but still a large population is living below poverty line. It has the largest tribal population in the country who have less adapative capacity.
It has been observed that frequency of extreme events like drought/ drought like conditions, floods, extreme temperatures have increased which have affected the productivity of natural resources. this has forced dependent communities to introduce more inputs, resulting in dual effects. On one hand, it has increased per unit cost of production and on other hand has affected soil health, depleted ground water, increased emissions from the sector etc. This also promoted mono-cropping, land use change, over exploitation of natural resources etc. Many people had to leave their profession and turned into migratory labors which put additional burden on sustainability of cities.
In this way, natural resources based livelihood became less profitable. Some cases of desertification have also been observed in western Madhya Pradesh. Madhya Pradesh is also among top four states which account for maximum vector borne diseases and changed climatic conditions have affected Governments's efforts.
Natural resource based communities and other deprived communities lime tribal, schedule caste, backward and poor people are affected the most.

Solution and Key Benefits

 What is the initiative about? (the solution)
UNDP supported project "Strengthening Madhya Pradesh Climate Change Cell" is being implemented by EPCO. Developing Cell into a Knowledge Management Centre on Climate Change(CC), Preparation of State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) and integration of CC Concerns into sectoral policies/ programmes are the major outcomes of the project.
Preparation of SAPCC is the major achievement of the project as Madhya Pradesh is the only state which has formulated SAPCC through a wide scale and decentralized consultation process. Overall 26 consultation workshops were organized across the state over a period of 1.5 years to formulate the plan.
Since Government of India (GoI) advised all the state governments to formulate their state specific SAPCC, the approach followed and framework developed by Madhya Pradesh was appreciated at national level and GoI advised all the states to follow the same process and framework within their capacities.
During the SAPCC formulation process, various departments like Animal Husbandry, Agriculture, Renewable Energy were in the process of formulating policies like Organic Farming Policy, Solar Energy Policy, Wind energy Policy etc. Consultation workshops helped them to discuss their policies at the same plateform and also motivated them to follow same consultative process.
Impact Measurement
Nearly all the states have followed the consultative process adopted by Madhya Pradesh. The departments which are stakeholders in SAPCC also adopted the same consultative approach for drafting departmental policies. Regional workshops created awareness among stakeholders on climate change issues
Measurement
Though there have not been any quantitative assessment but feedback received from stakeholders on radio programme as part of awareness generation process, feedback received from general public/ experts/ departments on SAPCC shows that this process has been able to generate awareness/ share information among different communities and stakeholders on CC issues.
Major beneficiaries have been Government Departments who have been involved in the process of formulation of SAPCC. SAPCC is supposed to integrate CC concerns into departmental policies/ programmes and a few departments like Agriculture, Renewable Energy have initiated this. In next one year, it is planned to cover all the sectors.
The project has been successful in creating awareness on climate change issues across the state even in the remotest areas through various popular means of communication like radio, regional news paper, workshops, exhibitions etc. A basic understanding about climate change has been developed among variety of stakeholders.
Adaptation is the more suitable option in case of Madhya Pradesh and focus of GoMP has been more on building capacity and generating awareness on climate change issues so that effective implementation of policies and programmes can be ensured on ground.

Actors and Stakeholders

 Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
Though all the states have been advised by Government of India to formulate SAPCCs, Government of Madhya Pradesh (GoMP)started the process way before. It was the decision of GoMP to develop a state specific strategy to address climate change issues and thus entered into a partnership with UNDP to develop the capacities of GoMP CC Cell to formulate this. establishment of Knowledge Management Centre is a unique feature of the project which has not been replicated in other states. Since Environmental Planning and Coordination Organization(EPCO)(a GoMP organization) has been a pioneer organization in the fields of Climate Change, the responsibility was assigned to EPCO.
The project was designed by EPCO where financial support is being provided by UNDP. EPCO is the implementing organization. The approach has been participatory and major climate sensitive sectors have been involved. The leadership was provided from the top administration where a Project Steering Committee under chairmanship of Chief Secretary provides policy inputs and monitors the progress. An overview of major stakeholders is as below:
Major Departments
1. Forest Department
2. Farmers Welfare and Agriculture Department
3. Health Department
4. Animal Husbandry Department
5. Horticulture Department
6. Fisheries Department
7. Water Resources Department
8. Energy Department
9. New and renewable Energy Department
10. Industry Department
11. Housing and Environment Department
12. Urban Administration and Development Department
13. Rural Development Department
Public Institutions
During the formulation process, 34 academic/ research institutions were involved. Major institutions are as below:
1. Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal
2. The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi
3. Jawaharlal Nehru Agriculture University, Jabalpur
4. Potato Research Institute, Jabalpur
5. Moulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal
6. Rajiv Gandhi Technical University, Bhopal
7. Indian Meteorological Department, Bhopal/ Nagpur/ Pune
8. Indian Institute of Soil Sciences, Bhopal
9. Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal
10. Disaster Management Institute, Bhopal
11. MP Lake Conservation Authority, Bhopal
Organizations
All the major Government Organizations like Centre for Environment Education (CEE), State Pollution Control Board, MP Urja Vikas Nigam, MP Power Generation Companu, MP Power Transmission Company, and Municipal Corporations etc were involved in the process.
Except above defined stakeholders, many eminent citizens, NGOs, civil society representatives, farmers, students, officers from different departments etc participated in the workshops.

(a) Strategies

 Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
 a.      What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
Objectives
 Prepare State Action Plan on Climate Change
 Develop Climate Change Cell into Knowledge Management Centre
 Mainstream Climate Change concerns in policies/programmes

Strategies
Effective Management
A three layered structure has been in place to ensure effective and efficient implementation. The details are as follows:
Project Steering Committee: This is chaired by Chief Secretary with Additional Chief Secretaries and Principal Secretaries of above defined departments as members. The committee provides policy level guidance to the project.

Project Implementation Committee: This is chaired by Principal Secretary, Housing and Environment Department, GoMP with Director, Town and Country Planning, Executive Director, EPCO, Secretary-Finance and State representative-UNDP as members. The committee monitors the progress of the project and provides required inputs for the successful implementation of designed outputs.

Project Management Unit: This is chaired by Executive Director, EPCO. Coordinator, CC Cell, Administrative Officer, EPCO, Additional Administrative Officer, EPCO and Accounts Officer, EPCO are members. The committee looks after project management aspects.

Identification of Nodal Officers in departments
Nodal Officers: For effective and efficient coordination from the climate sensitive departments, 2 senior officers from each department were appointed as nodal officers.

Scientific and participatory approach for drafting SAPCC
Review of Major Policies/ programmes of Climate sensitive sectors: Policies and Programmes of CC sensitive sectors were reviewed in light of climate change to understand the ongoing efforts and gaps if exist.

One to one consultation with departments: Consultation workshops were organized with ten sectors to understand ongoing efforts/ programmes of departments, future plans, understand climate change from their angle, general and CC related issues and recommendations for SAPCC. Additional Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, Senior Officers from departments, Academicians, Researchers, Media Representatives, Students were major participants of the workshops
Regional Consultations: Madhya Pradesh is divided into 11 Agro-climatic Zones. 13 consultation workshops were conducted in these ACZs to get the views of people at local level about climatic change and associated impacts in that region, recommendations and explore the opportunities of mutual interest in the near future. District Collectors, CEO- Zila Panchayat, Officers from different departments, Academicians, Researchers, Eminent personalities of the region, farmers, NGO representatives, Media representatives, Industries Associations representatives were major participants.

Networking with Academic/ Research Institutes: Networking with various academic/ research institutes across the country was done to understand ongoing research activities, knowledge base in these institutes, expectations of these institutes from CC Cell and explore areas of convergence.

NAPCC Missions Review: A close review of relevant National Missions was also done to streamline SAPCC with NAPCC.

The outcomes of policy review process, secondary research, departmental and regional consultation/ national mission review were fed in the SAPCC

The draft SAPCC prepared was shared with respective departments and subject experts for their comments/ suggestions. After incorporating the comments, it will be presented before Project Steering Committee. The final plan after incorporation of suggestions of PSC will be submitted to MoEF,GoI
A consultation workshop was also organized over draft SAPCC where Honourable Chief Minister expressed his views and appreciated EPCO’s efforts.

(b) Implementation

 b.      What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
Major developments and implementation steps are as follows:
Creation of Cell: The cell was incepted in Dec, 2009 with the commencement of the project.
Human Resources: Four professionals were recruited from Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal as Project Consultants. During the same period, other infrastructure was also developed.
Nodal Officers: Nodal Officers were identified in different departments for better and effective communication and information transfer.
Launch Workshop: Launch Workshop of the project was conducted on 26th-27th April, 2010 where experts/ academicians/ researchers/ policy makers etc participated.
Networking Workshop: A networking workshop was conducted to identify the ongoing efforts/ research in the field of CC and explore areas of mutual interest.
Policy Review: Policies/ Programmes of major CC sensitive sectors were reviewed to identify the gaps and develop strategies to address them.
Sectoral Workshops: One to one consultation was done with ten climate sensitive departments at Bhopal.
Regional Workshops: 13 regional workshops were conducted in 11 different Agro-Climatic Zones to address regional issues and interact with people at ground level.
SAPCC drafting: Outcomes of the above defined steps were used as inputs for drafting SAPCC. Draft SAPCC was uploaded on www.epco.in for public comments.
Review by Department/ Experts: Draft sectoral chapters were shared with respective departments/ subject experts for comments/ suggestions. The comments/ suggestions received were incorporated in the SAPCC.
Presentation before PSC: Once comments are incorporated, SAPCC will be presented before PSC. Once PSC approves the draft, SAPCC will be submitted to Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

 c.      What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
No regional climatic models have been run for Madhya Pradesh as region specific models have not been developed yet. However, the data and information was procured from Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune which have done modelling for the nation and this information was presented in SAPCC.
Government of Madhya Pradesh is committed to eradicate poverty and bring state among developed states. Thus there are certain developmental agendas with each and every department and focus of the departments is to achieve the targets. Since Climate Change is a new subject, understanding about Climate Change and its impacts on various sectors is still in its primary stages in the Government. Since Madhya Pradesh is a very large scale with huge administrative set-up, it was a difficult task to enhance understanding on climate change. Since there is no separate section in departments to address climate change issues. Climate Change a cross cutting subject which need coordination of all the departments in a huge set-up which in itself is a difficult task.
Different ways were adopted to enhance the understanding of different stakeholders on climate change. Workshops/ trainings were organized for different departmental officials, one to one meetings were conducted with officials in regional workshops, interactive radio programme was launched, exhibitions were displayed etc. In this way, efforts were made to make stakeholders aware about the subject so that they contribute relevant points/ suggestions.
Leadership from the top administration was provided to provide all support for efficient implementation of the project

(d) Use of Resources

 d.      What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
Financial Resources: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the total resources mobilized by UNDP till Dec, 2011 are INR 1, 26, 99,565/- only. Timely availability of financial resources maintained the pace of the project progress.
Infrastructural Resources: State of the art infrastructure was developed for Climate Change Cell jointly by State Government and UNDP. All the modern facilities are available in the Cell which are required for efficient functioning of the Cell.
Human Resources: Human Resources can be classified under following categories:
Internal Resources: Four professional were recruited from Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal as Project Consultant for performing the project activities under the guidance of Coordinator, CC Cell, EPCO. It was for the first time when professionals were recruited fresh from the Institute in EPCO. Association of young and fresh professionals helped in introducing fresh ideas as well as efficient operations.

External Resources
Individuals: During the SAPCC formulation process, services of many experts were taken. This may range from participation in workshop, comments on SAPCC, logistics arrangements in different regions etc.
Departments/ Organization/ NGO/ Institution/ Common People etc: As it has been explained in earlier sections also that huge network of departments, academic/ research institutes/ NGOs/ Centre of excellence was established to formulate SAPCC, this has been the backbone of entire Output. It can be said that without this resource, it would had been very difficult to develop SAPCC in such a participative and scientific manner.
Total cost incurred till now on the above defined project has already been explained

Sustainability and Transferability

  Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
The initiative is sustainable and transferable. This can be explained as below:
Sustainable initiative
Climate Change is a cross sectoral issue which needs the participation of all the stakeholders to formulate the strategy. EPCO has tried to involve each and every stakeholder in the process to make it more simple and ready to act plan. Stakeholders ranging from Chief Minister to farmer have participated in workshops and thus it shows the willingness of State Government to support climate friendly initiatives as well as common man’s eagerness to learn and adapt climate friendly initiatives. Since the recommendations have been developed in consultation with departments, a sense of belongingness will motivate departments to implement recommendations. Care has been taken to promote the traditional practices to safeguard local cultures, traditions etc. Focus has been more on integrated developed rather that discrete approach by different department.
Monitoring and Evaluation of SAPCC recommendations is proposed to be done by CC Cell, EPCO which will again ensure that the recommendations are implemented in desired way. Institutional approach has been followed during formulation and so has been recommended in SAPCC to implement recommendations.
All the efforts for formulating SAPCC have been made for sustainable development through inclusive growth to achieve triple bottom line.
Transferable
Since the situation of most of the states is more or less similar to that of Madhya Pradesh, there is huge potential to replicate the model followed in other states without much modification. Irrespective of Government of India’s advice of participatory approach, MP is the only state which has followed such a participatory process to formulate SAPCC. Thus, huge potential exists to replicate the model.

Lessons Learned

 What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
Impacts of the initiative
The initiative highlighted probable impacts of Climate Change on Climate sensitive departments and also developed primary understanding of Climate Change Science and associated economics. It also helped departments to analyze their programmes/ projects in view of climate change; it also helped them to align National Missions with their programmes. It also helped to develop a cross sectoral set of action points for various departments for climate friendly development.
It helped departments to discuss cross sectoral issues at one platform for an integrated solution. It has also generated awareness among various stakeholders on climate change.
Lessons learned
Those problems which are cross sectoral, they need integrated solution and isolated strategies won’t produce sustainable results.
Top to bottom and bottom to up, both approaches were used for ensuring maximum participation in consultation workshops. It can’t be stated that for one situation, only one strategy is good, mix strategies also work.
Involvement of diverse stakeholders in policy making process is an important step and it brings out many unknown facts. This also helps in better implementation and also develops sense of ownership.
Every individual is important in policy formulation.

Contact Information

Institution Name:   Environmental Planning & Coordination Organization
Institution Type:   Government Agency  
Contact Person:   Manohar Dubey
Title:   Executive Director  
Telephone/ Fax:   917552466859
Institution's / Project's Website:   www.epco.in
E-mail:   mpsapcc@epco.in  
Address:   Paryavaran Parisar, E-5, Arera Colony
Postal Code:   462016
City:   Bhopal
State/Province:   Madhya Pradesh
Country:   India

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