By Dr Seema Javed The recent 2023-2024 green budget is a strong indication that India considers sustainability to be a key driver of future economic growth. The focus remains on infrastructure development and the establishment of manufacturing capacity. India’s Prime Minister has been regularly strengthening its climate targets and the recent budget is a clear reflection of that. However, It offers little in terms of protection from climate change or avenues for spending that will reduce the impacts. Though Attribution Science has led to major advances in linking the impacts of extreme weather events with human-induced climate change and global warming. Because of this new science, we now know that the heat wave that hit north India in 2022 was 30 times more likely only due to climate change. Reducing emissions in a way that matches the requirements to limit Earth’s heating to 1.5 degrees is no more a choice but a compulsion. National Coastal Mission (NCM) The budget to ensure the livelihood security of coastal communities including fisher folks, to conserve, and protect the coastal stretches remains lower. Especially with Increasing cyclones in the Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal & Arabian Sea. Budget allocation for National Coastal Mission (NCM) Financial Year Budget Allocation Revised Estimate Actual Spend Feb 2018-19 Rs 165 crores Rs 130.1 crores Rs 129.55 crores Feb 2019-20 (1) Rs 95 crores Rs 96 crores Rs 90.84 crores Feb 2020-21 Rs 103 crores Rs 68.38 crores Rs 68.34 crores Feb 2021-22 Rs 200 crores Rs 100.9 crores Rs 27.79 crores Feb 2022-23 Rs 195 crores Rs 4 crores Feb 2023-24 Rs 12.5 crores While the budget for the programme has seen an increase in the past few years, the revised estimates and utilization of the same remained much lower. This is concerning in times when climate impacts are increasing and putting coastal communities and their livelihoods at further risk. Scientists are unpacking how tropical cyclones in the Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal & Arabian Sea behave in a changing climate. The percentage of storms that can hold themselves in a severe cyclonic storm and above category for…