Capacity Development Workshop on Assessing Climate Adaptation Co-benefits of Wetland Management

19 Nov, 2024

Wetland conservation and restoration contribute to biodiversity, water, food security and livelihood opportunities. They also offer significant climate co-benefits such as carbon storage and buffering against extreme climate events. Climate co-benefits of wetlands refer to the positive impacts on climate change mitigation and adaptation that result from wetland protection, management, and restoration. These co-benefits occur even when these measures are not specifically aimed at climate action.

Assessing the climate co-benefits of wetland management can strengthen the implementation of India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and national programmes. These include the National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA), Amrit Dharohar, Green Credit Programme, Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes (MISHTI) and others, while promoting the integration of wetlands into sectoral climate action and disaster management plans.

The potential positive effects of wetland management practices, such as climate co-benefits, are still inadequately understood. To address this gap a methodology is being developed for assessing the climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction (DRR) co-benefits of wetland management. This is part of the ‘Indo-German Support Project for Climate Action in India,’ implemented by GIZ in partnership with Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) under the International Climate Initiative (IKI). This methodology is being developed in collaboration with Perspectives Climate Group, Wetlands International South Asia (WISA), and Institute of Economic Growth. The methodology is being piloted at different wetland types including High Altitude, Coastal, Floodplain and Urban.

Following the stakeholder consultation in August 2024, where the methodology was introduced, the team has further developed an enhanced online version of the Excel-based tool. This online version retains the core logic as the original Excel-based tool but offers a more interactive and accessible interface. To further familiarise stakeholders with the online tool and the core approach, a capacity development workshop was organised on 19-20 November 2024 under the chairmanship of Dr Ramesh Motipalli, Director, Wetland Division, MoEFCC. The workshop brought together participants from various government agencies, think tanks, and research institutes, including National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), Environment Planning and Coordination Organization (EPCO), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM), Assam Climate Change Management Society, Tamil Nadu State Wetland Authority (TNSWA), Himachal Pradesh State Wetland Authority, Department of Ecology, Environment and Remote Sensing, Jammu & Kashmir, East Kolkata Wetland Management Authority (EKWMA) and other experts from Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR), Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) and Anna University.

The workshop gave participants access to the online tool and provided in-depth discussions on the methodology and various case studies. The participants were encouraged to pilot the tool on their respective wetland sites or other sites of interest. Both Tier 1 and Tier 2 of the tool were explored, with Tier 1 being completely online.

Feedback from the workshop included technical recommendations in terms of categorisation of data for tier 1 online tool and broader option scheme to make it accessible to wider range of users, particularly where data might be unavailable. Additionally, the workshop discussed the need for continuous capacity development at multiple levels regularly to effectively apply the tool and integrate it across different scales, from the Panchayat to State Disaster and Climate Change sectors. Tier 2 of the tool was well received as an innovative approach to measure climate co-benefits of wetlands and quantify them. . The discussion also covered how the assessment outcomes could be utilised to build a case for accessing national and international climate finance.

Following this workshop, the team intends to enhance tier 1 online tool, develop and integrate tier 2 tool into the online version, incorporating suggestions from various experts, and further make it available for users on the ‘Wetlands of India’ portal. As India continues to implement its NDCs and develops it National Adaptation Plan, this methodology could play a crucial role in promoting sustainable wetland management as a key component of climate action and disaster resilience planning.

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About the project

The Wetlands Management for Biodiversity and Climate Protection project aims to strengthen the institutional framework and capacities for an ecosystem-based integrated management of wetlands of international importance (Ramsar sites) in India. The project is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) in partnership with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in close cooperation with the National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems (NPCA). This project is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag. Read More

For more information contact: biodiv.india@giz.de