UP to bridge research & policy gaps on climate action

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By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi, December 29: With an aim to bridge the policy and research-level gaps in the domain climate action, Uttar Pradesh is seeking ways to transform research findings into policy. A number of institutions have submitted their evidence-based scientific climate policy suggestions to the UP government.

Representatives of IIM Lucknow, CIMAP, NBRI, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaology, Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture, Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute, Central Agroforestry Research Institute, Bhimrao Ambedkar Institute and Banaras Hindu University and Vasudha Foundation, AEEE, and NABARD have submitted their action plans to the state government, which is seeking to bridge the gap between the research community and policy makers in order to enhance development of evidence-based policies.

Minister of State (Independent Charge) Arun Kumar Saxena has called for ensuring that the findings of the research documents are included in the policies formulated by the department, so that the State gets prepared for climate change adaptation and mitigation. He also said that the approval of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India has been granted for the establishment of the proposed Climate Change Knowledge Center in the State under the Strategic Knowledge Mission of the Climate Change Action Plan of Uttar Pradesh.

He informed that soon the State Level Climate Change Knowledge Center will be functional in the Gomti Nagar office of Environment Directorate, Uttar Pradesh. The knowledge center will develop communication materials for climate change awareness and networking with national and international technical institutions. As part of the initiative under the Uttar Pradesh State Knowledge Network, the Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change will also develop a social networking platform, Shelter, for the people of the State. This is proposed to be done in collaboration with Tattva Foundation, Lucknow and Gorakhpur Environment Action Group. The platform will use artificial intelligence and machine learning to exchange personalized climate change related information in regional languages.

Some of the research papers shared with the state government dealt with impact of monsoon on soil nutrient availability in tropical grassland and multivariate drought analysis for temperature homogeneous regions of India; lessons from the Gomti River Basin by researchers from Banaras Hindu University, and on effects of aerobic; chemoheterotrophic bacteria by Bhimrao Ambedkar Institute.