Climate Change– Audit of

measures to combat Climate

ChangeNameeta Prasad,

Director (Training and Research)

iCED

Climate change

• According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

– “climate change refers to a change in the state of the climate that can

be identified by changes that persists for an extended period, usually

decades or longer”.

– IPCC 2014: evidence of impacts of climate change

• The UN Development Programme (UNDP)

– climate change the greatest global challenge of this century, as

increased exposure to droughts, floods and storms is already limiting

opportunities and reinforcing inequality.

• Climate change is a natural process, but it is the recent rapid

changes induced by human activity that have made the issue

important

Impact of climate change

• Ecosystems

– Approximately 20 to 30% of plant and animal species assessed so far are likely to be at increased risk of extinction if increases in global average temperature exceed 1.5 to 2.5°C.

• Food

– Crop productivity is projected to increase slightly at mid to high latitudes for local mean temperature increases of up to 1 to 3°C depending on the crop, and then decrease beyond that in some regions.

– At lower latitudes, especially in seasonally dry and tropical regions, crop productivity is projected to decrease for even small local temperature increases (1 to 2°C), which would increase the risk of hunger

Impact of climate change

• Coasts

– By the 2080s, millions more people than today are projected to

experience floods every year due to sea level rise.

– The numbers affected will be largest in the densely populated and

low-lying megadeltas of Asia and Africa while small islands are

especially vulnerable.

• Health:

– The health status of millions of people is projected to be affected

through, for example, increases in malnutrition; increased deaths,

diseases and injury due to extreme weather events; increased

burden of diarrhoeal diseases; increased frequency of cardio-

respiratory diseases due to higher concentrations of ground-level

ozone in urban areas related to climate change; and the altered

spatial distribution of some infectious diseases.

Impact of climate change

• Water

– Climate change is expected to exacerbate current stresses on

water resources from population growth and economic and

land-use change, including urbanisation.

– Widespread mass losses from glaciers and reductions in snow

cover over recent decades are projected to accelerate

throughout the 21st century, reducing water availability,

hydropower potential, and changing seasonality of flows in

regions supplied by meltwater from major mountain ranges

(e.g. Hindu-Kush, Himalaya, Andes), where more than one-

sixth of the world population currently lives.

– Changes in precipitation and temperature lead to changes in

runoff and water availability.

Impact of climate change

• Extreme events

– Altered frequencies and intensities of extreme weather,

together with sea level rise, are expected to have mostly

adverse effects on natural and human systems like

• Warm spells/heat waves, Frequency increased over most land areas

• Heavy precipitation events, Frequency increases over most areas

• Area affected by drought increases

• Intense tropical cyclone activity increases

Action to combat climate change

• The terms “adaptation” and “mitigation” are two important terms that

are fundamental in the climate change debate.

– While mitigation tackles the causes of climate change, adaptation tackles

the effects of the phenomenon.

• Climate mitigation is any action taken to permanently eliminate or

reduce the long-term risk and hazards of climate change to human life,

property.

• Climate adaptation refers to the ability of a system to adjust to climate

change (including climate variability and extremes) to moderate

potential damage, to take advantage of opportunities, or to cope with

the consequences.

Mitigation strategies

Sector Key mitigation technologies and practices currently commercially available

Key mitigation technologies and practices projected to be commercialized before 2030

Energy sector

Improved supply and distribution efficiency; fuel switching from coal to gas; nuclear power; renewable heat and power (hydropower, solar, wind, geothermal and bioenergy); combined heat and power; early applications of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).

CCS for gas, biomass and coal-fired electricity generating facilities; advanced nuclear power; advanced renewable energy, including tidal and waves energy, concentrating solar and solar PV.

Transport sector

More fuel efficient vehicles; hybrid vehicles; leaner diesel vehicles; biofuels; modal shifts from road transport to rail and public transport systems; non-motorised transport (cycling, walking); land-use and transport planning.

Second generation biofuels; higher efficiency aircraft; advanced electric and hybrid vehicles with more powerful and reliable batteries.

Buildings Efficient lighting and daylighting; more efficient electrical appliances and heating and cooling devices; improved cook stoves, improved insulation ; passive and active solar design for heating and cooling; alternative refrigeration fluids, recovery and recycle of fluorinated gases.

Integrated design of commercial buildings including technologies, such as intelligent meters that provide feedback and control; solar PV integrated in buildings.

Industry More efficient end-use electrical equipment; heat and power recovery; material recycling and substitution; control of non- CO2 gas emissions; and a wide array of process-specific technologies.

Advanced energy efficiency; CCS for cement, ammonia, and iron manufacture; inert electrodes for aluminium manufacture.

Mitigation strategies

Sector Key mitigation technologies and practices currently commercially available

Key mitigation technologies and practices projected to be commercialized before 2030

Agriculture Improved crop and grazing land management to increase soil carbon storage; restoration of cultivated peaty soils and degraded lands; improved rice cultivation techniques and livestock and manure management to reduce CH4 emissions; improved nitrogen fertilizer application techniques to reduce N2O emissions; dedicated energy crops to replace fossil fuel use; improved energy efficiency.

Improvements of crops yields.

Forestry/ forests

Afforestation; reforestation; forest management; reduced deforestation; harvested wood product management; use of forestry products for bioenergy to replace fossil fuel use

Tree species improvement to increase biomass productivity and carbon sequestration. Improved remote sensing technologies for analysis of vegetation/ soil carbon sequestration potential and mapping land use change.

Waste management

Landfill methane recovery; waste incineration with energy recovery; composting of organic waste; controlled waste water treatment; recycling and waste minimization.

Biocovers and biofilters to optimize CH4 oxidation.

Adaptation strategies

• Key strategies outlined by UNFCCC

– long-term strategies to strengthen response capacities and

preparedness including disaster preparedness

– Examples of adaptation measures include

• using scarce water resources more efficiently

• adapting building codes to future climate conditions and extreme weather events

• building flood defences and raising the levels of dykes

• developing drought-tolerant crops

• choosing tree species and forestry practices less vulnerable to storms and fires

• setting aside land corridors to help species migrate.

Audit of governments efforts to

combat climate change

Audit criteria

1. International agreements: UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol

– UNFCCC is the main global response to the challenge of climate change.

– UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol spell out a number of commitments for Parties, and it is thus where we must start looking for audit criteria.

– Annex I Parties are those countries that were members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1992, and a number of countries defined as economies in transition (EITs).

– Annex II Parties are a sub-group of the Annex I countries. They include the members of the OECD, but not the EITs.

– Non-Annex I Parties are all other countries which are party to the UNFCCC. They also include the least developed countries and other countries especially vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change.

Audit criteria

• Annex 1 and Annex 2 countries

– The emission targets established by the Kyoto Protocol are

binding on all Annex I Parties which have ratified the Protocol.

– These would have (i) Mitigation commitments (ii) Monitoring

and reporting commitments for mitigation (iii) Adaptation

Commitments (iv) Commitments on technology, funding and

research.

• Non Annex countries:

– These countries are encouraged to reduce GHG emissions, to

cooperate on research and technology and to protect sinks,

but are not bound by other obligations like the Annex I and II

countries. This category currently includes 153 countries

including India

Audit criteria

2. National policies, plans and strategies

– India’s National Action plan on Climate change

• The plan identifies eight core “national missions” running through 2017 and directs

ministries to submit detailed implementation plans to the Prime Minister’s Council on

Climate Change by December 2008.

• National Solar Mission

• National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency

• National Mission on Sustainable Habitat

• National Water Mission

• National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem

• National Mission for a “Green India

• National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture

• National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change

– States like West Bengal, Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra

Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Orissa etc.,

have also drafted State level plans for tackling effects of Climate Change

Planning audit of mitigation efforts of

government

Step 1

• Identify the emissions

Step 2

Map the government’s response in mitigating

climate change

Step 3: Choose

audit topics and

priorities

Step 4: Design

the audit

Step 1: Identify the emissions

• What are the overall trends and projections for GHG

emissions?

• What are the main sources of GHG emissions?

Step 2: Map the government’s response in

mitigating climate change

• What are the international mitigation commitments?

• What are the national targets for mitigating

• GHG emissions?

• Which are the relevant responsible public bodies and

what are their roles and responsibilities?

• What are the key policy instruments for reducing GHG

emissions?

Step 3: Choose audit topics and priorities

• Are targets and objectives being achieved?

• Are there risks related to the use of policy instruments?

• Is the government doing things in the right way?

• Are the financial resources misstated?

• Does the government focus on keeping the costs low?

Step 4: Design the audit

• Will the government meet its emissions targets or

commitments?

• Are policy instruments effective?

• Is the governance of the climate change response

efficient?

Planning audit of adaptation efforts of

government

Step 1

Get an overview of

the country’s vulnerability

to climate change

Step 2:

Map the government’s response in adapting to climate change

Step 3: Choose

audit topics and

priorities

Step 4: Design

the audit

Step 1: Get an overview of the country’s

vulnerability to climate change

• What are the actual and potential impacts of climate

change?

• What is the adaptive capacity?

• What is the vulnerability to climate change?

Step 2: Map the government’s response

in adapting to climate change

• What are the objectives and targets of adaptation

policies?

• What are the policy instruments for adaptation?

• Who are the public players and what are their roles and

responsibilities?

Step 3: Choose audit topics and priorities

• Has the government assessed the key vulnerabilities in a proper manner?

• Has the government developed an efficient over plan or strategy?

• Has the government addressed the need for climate change action in the most vulnerable sectors and areas

• Are the financial resources misstated?

• Are the appropriate actions being carried out to adapt to the identified vulnerabilities?

• Is the government focusing on keeping the costs of adaptation as low as possible?

• What should be the audit objectives?

Step 4: Design the audit

• Have the responsible ministries identified the climate

change-related threats?

• Does the government have in place an overarching

policy, plan or strategy?

• Is the adaptation governance efficient?

• Are policy instruments effective?

Audits of government’s efforts at

mitigation

• The SAI of Brazil: Performance Audit to assess public

policies regarding Legal Amazon forest region, considering

mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions

• The SAI of Canada: Reducing GHGs emitted during energy

production and consumption

• The SAI of the Netherlands: The European Trading Scheme

and its implementation in the Netherlands

• The SAI of Canada: Managing the Federal Approach to

Climate Change

• The SAI of Ukraine: Performance audit to assess the

implementation by Ukraine of the Kyoto Protocol

commitments

Adaptation audits

• The SAI of United Kingdom: Adapting to Climate Change

• The SAI of Brazil: Performance audit to assess adaptation

measures towards agriculture and livestock sector

considering climate change scenarios

• The SAI of Canada: Managing Severe Weather Events –

Environment Canada (2008)

• The SAI of Tanzania: Floods in Babati – a performance

audit of the management of prevention and mitigation of

floods at central, regional and local levels of government

• The SAI of Canada: Adapting to the Impacts of Climate

Change