Karnataka takes climate fight to grassroots with panchayat-level action plans

Bengaluru: Marking a significant shift in India’s climate governance journey, Karnataka is attempting to take the battle against climate change right down to village streets and farm fields. The state is preparing individual climate action plans for all 5,994 gram panchayats and 340 urban local bodies — an unprecedented exercise that, if successful, could make Karnataka the first state in the country to institutionalise climate accountability at the grassroots and create a model for India’s 2.5 lakh villages.

Participating in a sustainability conclave organised by the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) in Bengaluru, T Mahesh, director of the Environmental Management and Policy Research Institute (EMPRI), said the initiative is currently under development. “Karnataka’s ambition is to make every gram panchayat a unit of climate accountability, where a farmer in Bidar and a panchayat leader in Kodagu both understand, own and act on their role in India’s net-zero journey. We are not waiting for the world to change; we are building that change from the ground up,” he said.

After revising its State Climate Action Plan in 2024 in line with India’s commitments under the Paris Agreement, Karnataka is now monitoring 105 climate targets across 15 departments, including agriculture, energy, rural development and urban development. These targets, set for the 2025–2030 period, are reviewed every month by an apex committee headed by the chief secretary.

According to Mahesh, the proposed village-level climate plans could focus on water-use efficiency, cultivation of drought-resistant crops and millets, agroforestry, energy efficiency and local plantation drives. Karnataka has already set a target of planting five crore saplings across wastelands, agricultural lands and canal-side areas. The state has also crossed the 50 per cent mark in renewable energy generation, driven by expanding solar and wind capacity.

District-level training programmes for govt officials, academic institutions and industry bodies are already underway, laying the groundwork before the climate plans are rolled out across gram panchayats.

A research report was released during the conclave, jointly prepared by BCIC and the SDM Institute for Management Development, Mysore which found that the most effective sustainability initiatives combine artificial intelligence with physical infrastructure systems, ranging from energy-efficient buildings to technology-driven farm management platforms. It also highlighted that converting waste into value is increasingly emerging as sound business practice rather than merely an ethical choice. Measures such as recycling, reducing construction waste and eliminating plastic use were found to lower costs instead of adding to them.

- By Nyasa Gupta