The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is organising a National Workshop on ‘Enhancing Coastal Resilience through Adaptive Strategies’, on 29th – 30th October 2026 in New Delhi. It is being organised under the Green Climate Fund (GCF) project – Enhancing Climate Resilience of India’s Coastal Communities (GCF-ECRICC). The project focuses on restoring critical coastal ecosystems, including mangroves, coastal watersheds, seagrass, salt marshes and corals, while strengthening the livelihoods of communities living in highly vulnerable areas.
Addressing the inaugural session, Shri Narendra Bhooshan, Secretary, MoEFCC, underlined that building coastal resilience to the impacts of climate change, while protecting livelihoods is imperative for India to achieve the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision set by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. He underlined the need to address climate risks to coastal regions and highlighted the importance of mangroves, seagrasses, salt marshes and coral reefs for biodiversity, livelihoods and coastal protection.
The Secretary emphasized that India has significantly strengthened the scientific foundations for coastal planning through shoreline-change assessment, hazard-line mapping, coastal vulnerability assessment and ecosystem information. The next task is to ensure that this evidence moves from reports and maps into actual planning, infrastructure and investment decisions at State, district and local levels, he said. Shri Bhooshan informed that the National Coastal Mission would work as fulcrum for coastal resilience and adaptive intervention building on the outputs of GCF-ECRICC project.
Ms. Rajasree Ray, Senior Economic Advisor, MoEFCC, delivered the welcome address emphasizing on the need to bring together National and State-level perspectives, science, implementation experience and financing approaches to strengthen coastal resilience. The progress made under the GCF-ECRICC in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha and the potential of replication/upscaling was highlighted. The Climate Champion model of GCF-ECRICC project, compromising women from mostly coastal communities (ECRICC Didi) engaged in translating the technical knowhow of climate action to local communities, was showcased as potential for replication. Ms. Tanvi Garg, Joint Secretary, MoEFCC, underscored the importance of the National Coastal Mission in strengthening coastal resilience and climate adaptation in collaboration with the coastal/States and Union Territories.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Angela Lusigi, Resident Representative, UNDP India, highlighted that the restoration of coastal ecosystems plays a key role in livelihood interventions, empowering women and making them self-reliant by supporting the growth of their enterprises. Importance of knowledge exchange in mainstreaming proven best practices and transformative approaches, and in driving practical, scalable solutions to address challenges in enhancing coastal resilience was highlighted by Dr Sushil Saigal, Interim Managing Director, The Nature Conservancy India (TNC).
The workshop brought together close to 150 participants, including senior officers from MoEFCC and line Ministries, senior representatives from UNDP and TNC, and representatives from Coastal Zone Management Authorities, State/UT Forest Departments, premier research institutions, NGOs, financial institutions and philanthropic organisations.
The recommendations emerging from the workshop are expected to provide inputs towards broad guidelines for adaptive coastal resilience in India, drawing on existing national policy and programme frameworks, State priorities and implementation experiences, in keeping with Prime Minister’s envisaged vision of the Blue Revolution and ocean economy, symbolised by the blue chakra in India’s flag.