State nodal officer of climate change, Ravi Ranjan speaks to Dhrubajyoti Malakar about climate mitigation and adaptation for the past five years and how various initiatives have been taken to reduce the impact of rapid climate change.Q. Jharkhand has recently been witnessing increasingly erratic weather patterns, which many attribute to rapid climate change. What are the key factors driving these changing weather conditions in the state?There are many factors behind the changing weather conditions in the state such as rising global temperatures, mining and industrial activities, and rapid urbanisation, among others. Scientific studies, IMD-based analyses, and regional climate assessments show that the state is becoming progressively warmer, particularly in northwestern districts such as Palamu, Garhwa, Latehar, and Chatra. A long-term climate study covering 1984–2014 across 71 locations in Jharkhand found that the average maximum temperature during daytime has increased from 0.55 degrees Celsiusto 1.5 degrees Celsius in several districts. Jharkhand is one of India’s largest mining states. Mining impacts climate locally through increased land surface temperature, reduced groundwater recharge, air pollution, aerosol loading and disruption of natural drainage systems.Q. What initiatives have been undertaken by your department to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of worsening climate conditions in Jharkhand?Climate Change Cell’s approach over the past five years has focused on both climate mitigation and climate adaptation. Jharkhand has adopted a multi-sectoral strategy aligned with the State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) in sync with the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), Mission LiFE and SDG commitments. Under the national mission on strategic knowledge for climate changeproject, the state is training more than 25,000 people for climate action and carrying out various studies for designing evidence-based climate actions in the state. Over the last five years, the forest department has created a green cover of 1.34 lakh hectares and constructed 6,042 water bodies. These have helped in storing 163.14 cumulative run-off water and protecting more than 1.50 lakh hectares of land under potential threat of desertification.Q. How has Jharkhand’s forest cover changed in recent years? If there has been an increase, what specific policies or initiatives have contributed to this growth?Answer: Jharkhand has witnessed a mixed trajectory in forest cover over the last decade. While recent assessments indicate a marginal increase in total forest and tree cover, the picture becomes more complex when one examines the quality of forests, ecological health, mining pressures, and governance challenges. According to the latest India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023 by the Forest Survey of India, Jharkhand’s total forest cover stands at about 23,765.78 sq km, covering nearly 29.81% of the state’s geographical area. The report suggests that Jharkhand registered a moderate net increase in forest and tree cover between 2021 and 2023. Various govt initiatives have contributed to this growth.Q. Looking ahead, what are the further plans to combat the adverse effects of climate change in the state?Our department will focus on a combination of climate adaptation, low-carbon development, scientific planning, and community resilience. Building upon the SAPCC, the cell is likely to adopt a more integrated and data-driven approach to address the growing risks of erratic rainfall, heat stress, droughts, floods, forest degradation, and climate-sensitive diseases.