Local approaches to harmonising climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction policies: Lessons from India

This briefing by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) examines the challenges of integrating disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation policies in India, specifically focusing on the arid regions of Barmer and Leh. Based on action research by SEEDS India, the document highlights how a lack of coordination between government ministries leads to ineffective implementation and potential maladaptation, while advocating for the use of local multi-stakeholder platforms and post-disaster 'windows of opportunity' to drive policy convergence.

• Climate change is significantly altering the frequency and scale of disasters in India's arid zones, where local communities experience erratic weather, intense flash floods, and droughts. Many of these impacts are 'invisible disasters'—small-scale, remote events that do not cause human loss of life and are consequently under-reported and ignored by existing policies.
• There is a critical lack of coordination between India's national and state-level disaster and climate policies, such as the National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC) and the National Disaster Management Act (NDMA). This segregation can lead to maladaptation, where interventions intended to help actually increase vulnerability, as seen in Leh where tree plantations along glacier-fed streams exacerbated flash flood damage in 2010.
• Local perceptions of climate change often differ from scientific reality; many communities in Barmer and Leh view environmental changes as reversible results of local degradation or unexplained weather patterns rather than global climate change. This gap is attributed to a lack of information, though scientific data from the Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI) corroborates local observations of rising temperatures and erratic precipitation.
• Integrated DRR and climate adaptation efforts are most successful when implemented as post-disaster initiatives at the district level. An example is 'nala training' in Leh, where funds from the national Integrated Watershed Management Programme were released after flash floods to repair streams, which simultaneously reduced future flood risk and improved water storage for irrigation.
• Community-led multi-stakeholder platforms and innovative communication tools can bridge the gap between vulnerable groups, scientists, and policy-makers. In Barmer, a community radio programme run by adolescent girls provided a platform to discuss climate stresses and connect with experts, while in Leh, a 'weather school' helped farmers transition to adaptive practices like greenhouse farming using scientific data.
• Climate adaptation policies in India generally lack priority compared to mitigation policies. Local initiatives often fail to influence national policy because they lack demonstrated geographical impact or scalability. The report suggests leveraging post-disaster 'windows of opportunity' to document successful local integrations and build a sustained national policy dialogue.

APA

Sharma, A., Chauhan, S., & Kumar, S. (2014). Local approaches to harmonising climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction policies: Lessons from India. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Leh-Barmer-Inside-Story_WEB1.pdf

Chicago

Sharma, Anshu, Sahba Chauhan, and Sunny Kumar. Local approaches to harmonising climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction policies: Lessons from India. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2014. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Leh-Barmer-Inside-Story_WEB1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Sharma |first1=Anshu |last2=Chauhan |first2=Sahba |last3=Kumar |first3=Sunny |title=Local approaches to harmonising climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction policies: Lessons from India |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=May 2014 |url=http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Leh-Barmer-Inside-Story_WEB1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sharma2014local, author = {Sharma, Anshu and Chauhan, Sahba and Kumar, Sunny}, title = {{Local approaches to harmonising climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction policies: Lessons from India}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2014}, month = may, url = {http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Leh-Barmer-Inside-Story_WEB1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }