March 27, 2025 – Omkar Balel, a Knowledge Fellow in the 2024 cohort, completed his project titled Including Young Children in Climate Actions in India: A Review of Seven States’ Climate Plans with Recommendations. Due to its unique geographical features, India is highly vulnerable to extreme climate events, which led to its being the seventh most affected country globally by climate change, according to the global climate risk index developed by Germanwatch. As per the XDI Gross Domestic Climate Risk, at the subnational level, nine Indian states are identified among the top 50 regions worldwide facing significant climate-related risks to the built environment. The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) launched in 2008 dedicated to tackling climate change in India, including mandating respective states to submit localized climate change mitigation and adaptation plans called the State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC), coordinating across concerned stakeholders and departments.
Given the limited focus on young children in climate policies and plans, this project aimed to review state action plans for climate change in the most vulnerable states guided by the following key research questions:
- In what ways are young children included in climate plans of climate risk-vulnerable states?
- What gaps exist within these climate plans?
- Are there successful examples within these climate plans?
This report contains the findings of this reviews and concludes with recommendations for government policymakers and ECD advocates in India, focusing on how ongoing government programs for young children could be leveraged.