A week into the 29th edition of the Conference Of Parties (COP29) held in Baku, like-minded developing countries (LMDC) including India flagged serious concerns about the unsatisfactory progress made on talks related to climate finance, climate adaptation strategies and key aspects of climate justice critical to developing countries. COP29 focused extensively on climate finance, especially on the importance of setting a New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) for climate finance, which was increased to $300 billion annually, as opposed to the $1.3 trillion estimated for successful climate transition. Continued deliberations on critical climate issues by global leaders, heads of state, climate policy experts, and multilateral banks and institutions, have moved away from inclusive climate action and towards mechanisms such as carbon markets, geoengineering, and lower climate financing towards adaptation. Recent trends surrounding net zero goals have also been worrying, with six major banks dropping out of the UN-backed Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) in the United States (US), and four of the largest banks in Canada following suit.
While the focus of the annual COP by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is rightly global, it has been evident that to build meaningful global or national level climate action, countries need to employ a robust system for both localised participation as well as identify locally-led community-centred solutions, ensuring equity, fairness and justice for local people and communities. To bridge global ambitions with national goals with localised impact, nations especially from the Global South must identify and develop frameworks to engage subnational actors, strengthen local institutions, and empower local communities to become active climate leaders and ambassadors.
India has strongly committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070 and aims to source 50% of its installed power capacity from renewables by 2030. It has laid out a comprehensive vision for climate action through initiatives like the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and sub-national climate priorities via the State Action Plans on Climate Change (SAPCCs). To advance localised climate action, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj launched the revamped Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) in 2022, which focuses on empowering the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) to focus on the localisation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through nine distinct themes across all states and Union Territories. However, implementing these ambitious programmes demands a decentralised approach to drive locally led climate action across India’s diverse geographical landscape and communities. Any form of locally led climate action entails robust engagement of people and communities in adaptation and mitigation planning and implementation. The availability of necessary finance mechanisms also adds to the strong capacity framework for achieving climate resilience. The Constitution has tiered the governance process into three levels: The central government, the state governments, and the panchayats and municipalities. Sustained engagement with the lowest tier of the government is essential to ensure sub-national and sub-regional climate action. At the grassroots level, panchayats can effectively align local indigenous knowledge systems to adapt to the communities’ specific requirements, climate vulnerabilities and institutional capacities.
Over the last few years, the Conference of Panchayats (CoP) on Climate Change – an initiative by the Policy and Development Advisory Group (PDAG) and ASAR social impact advisors has demonstrated the importance of a sub-regional and state-level convening platform for deliberations, learnings and capacity building, enabling people and community-centred planning towards locally led climate actions. Since 2022, five divisional and one state-level CoPs have been hosted in Jharkhand, witnessing the active participation of elected head/ mukhiyas of over 250 gram panchayats along with local PRI members, self-help group members, block and district level officials and civil society organisations. This set of convenings has brought forth key climate challenges such as erratic rainfall, deforestation, declining water tables and climate-induced migration. Speakers also shared localised solutions for these issues, such as leveraging Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) funds for constructing soak pits and bunds to improve groundwater recharge. They also highlighted the need for community-driven approaches to climate action, like involving women-led self-help groups (SHGs) in afforestation and sustainable farming practices.
Taking cue from Jharkhand, a district-level CoP was held by a federation of gram panchayat/PRI members in Jamui district, Bihar in September 2024 and another CoP in Beed district of Maharashtra in December 2024. These convenings brought together elected Panchayat functionaries and leaders from over 50 gram panchayats, who shared acute challenges posed by erratic climate events. Further, localised adaptation solutions and community practised strategies including rainwater harvesting, solar-powered irrigation, and the promotion of millet cultivation and indigenous farming were highlighted.
These convenings have clearly emphasised the critical need for Gram Panchayats to integrate such measures into their respective Gram Panchayat Development Plans, the requirement for adaptive capacity and technical assistance for the local self-government bodies and the leveraging power of women’s SHGs in water management and security practices and sustainable farming.
Recently, the elected representatives from 22 gram panchayats across five blocks and two municipalities in the coastal district of Ernakulam in Kerala came together for a Conference of Panchayats (CoP-Ernakulam) to discuss locally led adaptation measures against tidal flooding. The convening saw elected PRI members suggest tailored solutions against the consequences and the challenges in implementing them. They also emphasised the need to recognise tidal flooding officially as a disaster, with Ezhikkara and Edavanakkad gram panchayats passing this resolution in special gram sabhas.
The Economic Survey 2024 had advocated for a shift from a western lens focused climate crisis strategy to a ‘local lens’ based model that incorporates India’s traditional sustainable practices. It emphasised on integrating the factors of local economic development and social justice as enshrined in the Constitution and the role of local self-governments in driving an indigenous climate agenda.
Institutionalising an initiative like the Conference of Panchayats (CoP) on Climate Change nationally could essentially mark a welcome step in this regard, ensuring India’s climate conversations and actions are informed by indigenous knowledge, localised climate actions and climate leadership, while tailored to community needs and unique and diverse agro-climatic landscapes. This would also drive a much-needed policy deliberation on the provisioning of climate finance directly to gram panchayats and urban local bodies, empowering them to implement projects with local relevance, ranging from renewable energy adoption, sustainable agriculture and water conservation, biodiversity protection and heat stress adoption. By anchoring this model within India’s governance structure, the country can create a cohesive climate action framework that is both locally positioned, nationally aligned and globally recognisable.
As India celebrates the 76th Republic Day, efforts to build the capacity of the Panchayati Raj Institutions on climate action will align well with India’s climate goals and also reinforce the Prime Minister’s vision of Vikshit Bharat with local self-governments as essential actors to drive India’s ambitious national and sub-national climate agenda.
The Conference of Panchayats (CoP) has exemplified the power of local engagement and informed participation and decision-making, markers of a true representative democracy enabling climate equity and justice in practice. With each panchayat and similarly, municipal and urban local bodies, if empowered to address its unique climate challenges through a dedicated Climate Action Plan 2030, India would not only enhance its climate security but also contribute a powerful, community-centred approach that respects and integrates local knowledge to implement a transformative impact of a truly inclusive climate strategy.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitching for COP33 to be hosted in India in 2028, India has a unique opportunity to develop an institutional approach based on the Conference of Panchayats (CoP) framework. If adopted within relevant policy mechanisms, it would not only highlight India’s commitment to the SDGs but would also provide a demonstrable global south example on locally led climate action on the global CoP forum.
This article is authored by Arindam Banerjee, co-founder and partner, PDAG and Vinuta Gopal, co-founder and CEO at ASAR.
