Murmu Urges Community-Led Climate Adaptation at NGT Conference

President Droupadi Murmu has called for climate resilience to be built through people-centric, community-based adaptation approaches that draw on traditional knowledge, stressing that those most exposed to climate impacts must be central to the response.

Speaking at the valedictory session of an international conference on 'The Future of Environment and Climate Dynamics' in New Delhi on September 20, 2026, the President said climate change unsettles multiple dimensions of human life. Biodiversity loss, water stress and land degradation, she noted, are closely bound up with it, while food security, health and livelihoods are also under serious strain.

Addressing such a complex challenge, she said, requires a well-structured framework of policies and actions. That framework must involve not only governments and legal experts but also the communities bearing the heaviest burden of climate change. She emphasised particular sensitivity to the needs of rural and forest-dwelling societies, small farmers, women and other vulnerable groups, who face the sharpest consequences of natural disasters.

Traditional knowledge systems, together with the practices and lived experience of local communities, play an important role in strengthening adaptation capacity, the President said. She also highlighted sustainable afforestation, noting that planting efforts which nurture biodiversity and suit local conditions can bolster resilience. The real aim of such afforestation, she added, is not simply to plant trees but to restore healthy, self-sustaining ecosystems.

Turning to development priorities, the President said developing countries need a path that builds resilience without slowing their pace of growth. Climate commitments, she argued, must align with national development needs and economic aspirations, and must remain technically feasible. She welcomed the discussion of these concerns at the conference.

India, she said, has made notable progress in building environmental awareness by involving ordinary citizens, especially young people. The government's 'Mission LiFE' initiative, she noted, has shown that public participation and community ownership can deliver meaningful gains in ecological restoration.

The President commended the National Green Tribunal for assembling experts, judges, jurists and key stakeholders from various countries active on environmental issues. She expressed confidence that the conference's deliberations and action plans would help chart a path towards climate-resilient societies founded on inclusive policies and effective action.