1.0 INTRODUCTION

Climate change, also called global warming, refers to the long-term fluctuations in temperature, precipitation, wind and other elements of the Earth's climate system. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), established jointly by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), in 1988, has been mandated to assess all available factual information on the science, the impacts, and the economies of climate change and on the adaptation/mitigation options to address climate change. Since the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, it has been a long march for the world to reach a consensus and to commit together, on the road to action in combating global warming. The first international approach to climate change had taken shape with the development of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Adopted in 1992, the UNFCCC set a framework for action aimed at stabilization of greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations, in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. The first Conference of the Parties to the Convention (COP-1) was held in Berlin in March - April, 1995. During the COP-1, it became clear to the world community that 'Rio is not enough' and pressed for adequacy of commitment by the developed countries for reduction of GHGs emissions. Accordingly, a Protocol to the Climate Change Convention was adopted in Kyoto in 1997, now known as the Kyoto Protocol. The objective of the Kyoto Protocol is aimed at bringing down the global GHG emissions by 5.2 % during the year 2008-2012.

The IPCC estimates that global mean surface temperature would be 2°C above the pre-industrial levels by the year 2030, and about 4°C above pre-industrial levels by the year 2090. Already, findings so far suggest that the earth's climate has risen by 0.3 to 0.6°C since the late 19th century. Global sea-level has risen by 10-25 cm over the past 100 years. It is expected to rise between 9 cm & 29 cm by 2030 and 28 cm & 96 cm by 2090. Research by the International Rice Research Institute, Manila, has indicated that every 1°C rise in temperature will result in a 10 percent fall in the yield of rice.

Ever since the inception of the UNFCCC in 1992, the Govt. of India has been very active in the climate change negotiations. India is a party to the UNFCC and was the 38th country to ratify it on November 01, 1993. The Ministry of Environment & Forests is the nodal Ministry for all environment related activities in the country and is the nodal Ministry for coordinating the climate change policy as well. The working group on the FCCC was constituted to oversee the implementation of obligations under the FCCC and to act as a consultative mechanism in the government for inputs to policy formulation on climate change. To enlarge the feedback mechanism, the Govt. of India has constituted the Advisory Group on Climate Change under the chairmanship of the Minister of Environment & Forests.