The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) inaugurated a two-day National Workshop on 'Enhancing Coastal Resilience through Adaptive Strategies' in New Delhi on October 29-30, 2026. The workshop is organized under the Green Climate Fund (GCF) project 'Enhancing Climate Resilience of India's Coastal Communities' (GCF-ECRICC), which focuses on restoring critical coastal ecosystems including mangroves, coastal watersheds, seagrass, salt marshes, and corals while strengthening livelihoods in highly vulnerable areas.
Shri Narendra Bhooshan, Secretary of MoEFCC, emphasized that building coastal resilience to climate change impacts while protecting livelihoods is imperative for achieving India's Viksit Bharat 2047 vision. He highlighted that India has strengthened scientific foundations for coastal planning through shoreline-change assessment, hazard-line mapping, coastal vulnerability assessment, and ecosystem information. The next critical task is ensuring this evidence moves from reports into actual planning, infrastructure, and investment decisions at state, district, and local levels. The National Coastal Mission will serve as the fulcrum for coastal resilience and adaptive intervention building on GCF-ECRICC outputs.
Ms. Rajasree Ray, Senior Economic Advisor at MoEFCC, emphasized the need to integrate national and state-level perspectives, science, implementation experience, and financing approaches. The workshop highlighted progress under GCF-ECRICC in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Odisha, with potential for replication and upscaling. The project's Climate Champion model, comprising women from coastal communities (ECRICC Didi) who translate technical knowhow of climate action to local communities, was showcased as replicable.
Ms. Tanvi Garg, Joint Secretary at MoEFCC, underscored the National Coastal Mission's importance in strengthening coastal resilience and climate adaptation in collaboration with coastal states and union territories. Dr. Angela Lusigi, UNDP India Resident Representative, highlighted that coastal ecosystem restoration plays a key role in livelihood interventions and women's empowerment through enterprise growth. Dr. Sushil Saigal of The Nature Conservancy India emphasized knowledge exchange for mainstreaming best practices and scalable solutions.
The workshop gathered approximately 150 participants from MoEFCC, line ministries, UNDP, TNC, Coastal Zone Management Authorities, state/UT Forest Departments, research institutions, NGOs, financial institutions, and philanthropic organizations. The recommendations are expected to inform broad guidelines for adaptive coastal resilience in India, aligning with existing national policy frameworks, state priorities, and implementation experiences, in keeping with the Prime Minister's vision of Blue Revolution and ocean economy.