India: How the people of India live with climate change and what communication can do

Abstract

Climate Asia is the world’s largest study of people’s everyday experience of climate change. The project surveyed 33,500 people across 7 Asian countries. In India, the research was conducted from May to August 2012 across cities and villages in five states: Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand, and in the city of Mumbai. These particular states were selected to represent different geographic areas in the country, which include coasts, mountains, a delta, plains with large tracts of rainfed agriculture and a large city. They are also home to people in very diverse socio-economic groups. Climate Asia recorded the opinions, insights and needs of this population, about 70% of whom live on less than $2 (£1.30) a day. Climate Asia conducted 24 focus group discussions with men and women from different social backgrounds across 8 locations in the chosen states and city in India. In addition, researchers held 8 community assessments with communities vulnerable to climate change, as well as 30 in-depth interviews with key experts and opinion-formers from government, civil society, business and academia. This report presents the findings from India. It seeks to build a picture of how people live their lives and deal with change, in order to understand their communication needs and help them respond to changes and variations in climate