Adaptive Planning for Resilience and Sustainability: Lessons from India - Project CAP-RES and Network

Sustainability is understood in terms of continuous and futuristic availability of resources with inter-generational equity over the changing scenarios. This implicitly requires the ability to manage and cope with risks of uncertainties and crisis due to extremes and disasters. Environmental resources of nature, cities, industry and communities that dwell with overlap are critical for future of life on earth. Concepts of resource efficiency and circular economy are new integration enabling the convergence and synergies among climate change mitigation (GHG emission reduction and green economy), adaptation and resilience, and disaster risk reduction. The new era of integrated resilience and sustainability has emergence over the lessons of SDG’s journey along SFDRR and Paris Climate Agreement, thus, assimilating the new understandings and lessons of recent times towards futuristic sustainability vision. There are lateral aspects integral to sustainability too like health, occupational safety, food safety, livelihood, inclusiveness, etc. and, therefore, holistic perspectives are needed from adaptive governance—policy-planning, localization and participatory actions at all levels. The CAP-RES (Climate Adaptive Planning for Resilience and Sustainability, in Multi-hazard Environment) under the National Mission for Strategic Knowledge on Climate Change (part of the National Action Plan on Climate Change) implemented as Centre for Excellence on Climate Resilience enabled showcasing of a strategic, ambitious and reliable approach of umbrella programme on resilience building towards sustainable future. The latest major endeavor of CAP-RES aimed at futuristic vision (100 years of India’s independence—Vision 2047) through “first Resilience and Sustainability Summit RESSUMMIT2047” which was a unique assembly of high level experts on policy-planning, S&T and innovations, practitioners, academics, researchers and NGOs, with a range of partners covering international, UN and wider range of organizations. The envisaged evolution is to a global network platform promoted by India for “Resilience and Sustainability Knowledge and Capacities RES-KAP” with a strong – reliable – sustainable network led platform of institutions, agencies, experts, on relevant fields, focused on India. This also comes up from the backdrop of first National Adaptation Communication to UNFCCC in the year 2022.