Climate change – rising temperatures, shifting rainfall patters and an increasing number of extreme weather events, such as droughts, floods and cyclones – poses a severe challenge to India. Especially the rural poor who depend on natural resources for their livelihood are considered to be most vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change.

The Indo-German development project, CCA RAI aims to enhance the adaptive capacities of vulnerable rural communities in India so that they are better equipped to cope with climate variability and change. The project partners are the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India, in the four states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. CCA RAI is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It is guided by India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and focuses on different fields of work, pursuing a cross-sectoral, integrated approach.

In addition to its four partner states, CCA RAI has supported 16 Indian states and two Union Territories in formulating their respective State Action Plans on Climate Change (SAPCC). These action plans address state-specific concerns of vulnerable sectors and communities.

To understand regional climate change impacts and vulnerabilities across different sectors, CCA RAI supports vulnerability and risk assessments in its partner states. A framework for carrying out vulnerability assessment has been prepared to assist decision makers and adaptation implementers in developing methodologies for carrying out their own vulnerability and risk assessments.

Adaptation measures for dealing with climate variability and change at the local level are being developed and tested in these partner states. For this, the project has partnered with various NGOs and universities across the country.

The rural poor often have only limited access to financial means that could help reduce the impacts climate change on their livelihoods. Through CCA RAI, a number of existing financial instruments are being assessed for their potential of promoting adaptation to climate change in rural areas.

A climate proofing tool developed by GIZ is being used to analyse whether the objectives of government projects are threatened by climate change and how the planned measures can be adapted accordingly.

In their daily work, decision-makers, development planners and practitioners in India are increasingly being confronted with the question of how to deal proactively with the effects of climate change. CCA RAI conducts a number of different training courses in order to build capacities and spread awareness and knowledge of adaptation.

The project also supports exchange of lessons learnt, approaches and technologies for climate change adaptation for future action and information exchange in this field. Activities include the up-scaling of technical adaptation measures, documentation and publication of lessons learnt