EPCO

Activities at SKMCCC

a. Revision of State Action Plan on Climate Change

(MoEFCC) has advised all the states to revisit & revise their respective State Action Plans on Climate Change (SAPCC) synergizing with the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Sustainable Development Goals 2030.

In this context, EPCO initiated the process of revising the MP SAPCC, and a multi-expert consultative group has been formed which has met twice to deliberate on the form & content of SAPCC. The concerned departments have also given their comments on the respective chapters. A preliminary draft of SAPCC v 2.0 has been shared with MoEFCC. The progress has been reviewed by Chief Secretary, GoMP twice in 2020. The MPSAPCC is in the advanced stage of completion and soon it will be placed in the public domain after completing the due process.

b. District Climate & Environment Action Plans (DCEAPs)

EPCO in technical association with reputed think tank organizations has developed District Environment & Climate Action Plans (DCEAPs) for a few districts of the state of MP. As of now, DCEAPs for 5 districts have been completed viz. Gwalior, Tikamgarh, Dewas in association with IPE Global Research, and Bhopal & Indore in association with Vasudha Foundation. UNICEF-EFICOR-CANSA is supporting SKMCCC in developing DCEAPs for Badwani, Khandwa, Damoh, Mandla, Shivpuri&Dindori as also WRI India is supporting developing DCEAPs for Seoni&Mandsaur districts.

c. Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSC-AF)

SMART Cities Mission under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), GoI launched the “Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSC-AF)” in February 2019. This framework is a city assessment framework on climate-relevant parameters. The CSC-AF serves as a tool for cities to assess their climate readiness and provides a roadmap for adopting and implementing relevant climate actions.

CSC-AF consists of 28 indicators across five categories namely; (i) Energy and Green Building, (ii) Urban Planning, Green Cover and Biodiversity, (iii) Mobility and Air Quality, (iv) Water Resource Management, and (v) Waste Management. One of the important indicators to assess the Climate SMART readiness of the cities in the development of City Climate Action Plans (CAPs), covering both mitigation and adaptation measures, and has to be prepared and implemented by the city.

In this endeavor, EPCO has collaborated with World Resources Institute (WRI India) to support all 7 smart cities of Madhya Pradesh state comprising Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Satna, Sagar, and Ujjain.

On the occasion of World Environment Day on June 05, 2023, these action plans have been released by the Hon'ble Chief Minister in Bhopal. All the action plans were also released at the local level in respective cities.
 
The recommendations for sustainable development of cities have been outlined in these action plans to reduce the adverse effects of climate change on the cities. Special emphasis has been given to the inclusivity aspects in the areas of renewable energy, air quality and mobility, green cover and biodiversity, water resources management, and waste management within city limits.

d. Chief Minister's Scholarship for Ph.D. on Climate Change

e. Climate Vulnerability Assessment for Adaptation Planning in India Using a Common Framework

A National level Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment study has been carried out by DST in association IISc Bangalore, IIT Guwahati, IIT Mandi, and all the states of the country. MP was also one of the participating states in this process.

The participating states were trained in a workshop organized by DST in New Delhi during 12-15 Feb 2020. The states prepared their own vulnerability assessment reports and submitted them to DST. The national-level climate change vulnerability assessment report is available here.

f. Training of forest officials under CAMPA

MP Forest Department has sanctioned a training program exclusively for forest officials under the CAMPA fund wherein 50 training programs in each of the districts of the state would be organised on climate change.

g. Faculty Development Program on Climate Change

A Faculty Development Programme on Climate Change has been jointly organized by CCCSD & SKMCCC, EPCO. The trainings have been imparted on various aspects of climate change, environment, and sustainable development to the faculties of 23 universities located in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Till March 2020, nine training programmes for8 universities & 1 college in Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior, Ujjain, Amarkantak, Chitrakoot and Jabalpur were organized and more than 450 faculties have participated in the training programs.

h. Gandhi Prasang

On the occasion of the 150^th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, a series of programs titled ‘GandhiPrasang’ has been organized from 02 October 2018 to 02 October 2019.

The theme of the Gandhi Prasang was ‘Gandhian Philosophy viz-a-viz Sustainable Development, Environment Conservation, and Peace’. The idea was to initiate and stimulate deliberation on Gandhian Philosophy and explore its relevance and potential in understanding contemporary environment, socio-economic and development concerns.

The key programmesin Gandhi Prasangprogram were Gandhian Environmentalism Talk Series andGandhian Eco-Philosophy Fellowship.

Proceedings of the Gandhi Prasang program can be accessed here.

i. Certificate Course on Climate Change (C4)

A special training certificate course on climate change has been launched by SKMCCC in March 2018 with the objective to develop a cadre of professionals on climate change. The course covers a range of issues on Climate Change, Environment, and Sustainable Development.

The program is advertised in newspapers and on the knowledge portal and the applications are invited online. As of now, 4 batches have been completed.

For more details download the brochure.

j. The Virtual Climate Pathshala

SKMCCC in collaboration with Rajiv Gandhi ProudyogikiVishwavidyalaya (RGPV, Bhopal) has conducted an online training course "The Virtual Climate Pathshala" during 14-26 Sept 2020. This was an E-certificate course that covered a range of issues on Climate Change, Environment, and Sustainable Development. The course has discussed the various challenges posed by climate change and environmental degradation and how a government responds, adapts, and plans to implement solutions for environmental conservation and sustainable development. 73 trainees participated in the training program. For an e-prospectus of the course, please click here. 

k.Strengthening of State Knowledge Management Centre on Climate Change

• A proposal has been submitted before Chief Secretary, GoMP worth INR 16.57 crores for a period of 5 years for strengthening of the State Knowledge Management Centre on Climate Change. The broad objectives of the proposal are as follows:-
  • Providing Climate change-related knowledge and information support to line departments.
  • Technical Support in formulating Project Concepts Notes and Detailed Project Reports to access domestic (NAFCC/CCAP) and international climate finance (GCF/GEF/AFB).
  • Carry out climate change-related research studies/impact assessment studies.
  • Mobilize technical support from knowledge-based think tanks of national and international repute.
  • Custom designing and delivery of training, capacity building, and awareness programs on climate change, environment, and sustainable development.

l. New Budget Fund for Plantation Activities

With the aim of keeping the environment clean and increasing green cover based on public participation, a project proposal has been prepared to help the general public to provide saplings and other plantation-related arrangements. The scheme has the following objectives:-

• To increase green cover, reduce air pollution, and increase oxygen in the atmosphere.
• Reducing the concentration of GHG and conserving land and increasing the richness of biodiversity.

The scheme has two components:-

a. Distribution of plants/saplings to the single applicant/organization

b. Develop city/town park through the Miyawaki technique

m. New Environment Policy

EPCO prepared State Environment Policy in 1999 which had been adopted by the State Government. Now, EPCO is revising it and preparing the New Environment Policy for the state of MP. The draft of the document is ready and would be finalized after a round of consultations with the sectoral experts, academic institutes, government departments, CSOs and other key stakeholders.

n. Support in Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)

As part of the ParamparagatKrishiVikasYojana (PKVY), a proposal has been submitted to the Department of Farmer's Welfare &Agriculture Development, GoMP for declaring EPCO as Regional Council for Organic Farming Certification in Mandla district of MP.

o. MP Climate Change Knowledge Portal

For wider dissemination of climate change-related information and to meet SKMCCC’s objectives, an interactive & user-friendly knowledge portal is up & running. The portal offers information, publications, and other knowledge resources related to the climate change issues of MP.

The portal includes some unique features like dynamic analysis of observed & projected data, assessing vulnerabilities of districts, rainfall & temperature trends, strategies chalked out in SAPCC, a dedicated section for kids involving short stories, and activities for engaging and encouraging young minds.

The portal is integrated with the climate dashboard developed in association with World Resource Institute (WRI). The portal has been hosted on the server of State Data Centre www.climatechange.mp.gov.in