Publication

Mihir Bhatt was a coordinating lead author of Chapter 9 of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on “Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX)” and leads All India Disaster Mitigation Institute. In this opinion piece for CDKN, he outlines three major themes from his discussions with government authorities, the UN, international and domestic non-governmental organizations and media researchers on how SREX messages could influence policy and practice in India. First, the findings and messages of the SREX report must filter down to state level in India. Second, the messages of the SREX report apply differently to different sectors of India’s growing economy. Key sectors should be identified – perhaps infrastructure, finance, urban development, and agriculture – and the recommendations should be contextualized for these sectors as soon as possible. Third, more work should be done now to find ways to incorporate SREX recommendations in disaster response, reconstruction, and recovery plans. Read more details about these themes on the CDKN website.