Green League: TN likely to roll out dedicated Climate Budget with Rs 3,000 cr outlay

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu is likely to become the second State in the country, after Odisha, to introduce a dedicated Climate Budget, with the State government expected to earmark up to Rs 3,000 crore for climate change mitigation and adaptation measures in the Budget to be presented on Wednesday.

The proposed allocation, if announced, would mark the first time that Tamil Nadu has created a separate climate-focused budgetary framework, signalling a shift towards integrating climate resilience into public spending. Sources said the Department of Environment and Climate Change has completed the groundwork for the initiative ahead of the presentation of the first full-fledged Budget of the TVK-led government.

The proposed Climate Budget is expected to focus on protecting vulnerable regions from the growing impacts of climate change, particularly the State's coastline. A significant portion of the allocation is likely to be utilised for tackling coastal erosion across Tamil Nadu's 14 coastal districts, besides supporting compensation and rehabilitation measures for fishing communities affected by sea erosion and extreme weather events.

Sources added that the proposed fund could also be used for the restoration and ecological rejuvenation of the Pallikaranai marshland, one of the State's most critical wetlands, which plays a key role in flood mitigation, groundwater recharge and biodiversity conservation.

The allocation is also expected to support scientific assessment of climate change impacts on the Western Ghats and finance conservation measures to protect the ecologically sensitive mountain ecosystem from increasing climate-related threats.

In addition, the government is likely to include programmes aimed at increasing Tamil Nadu's green cover to 33 per cent of its geographical area through afforestation and ecological restoration initiatives.

Tamil Nadu has been among the early movers in introducing climate-focused policies over the past few years. In 2021, the then DMK government renamed the Environment and Forests Department as the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Forests, giving climate change a dedicated administrative focus.

The previous regime had also announced the Tamil Nadu Climate Change Mission and the Green Tamil Nadu Mission in the 2021-22.

In 2022, the Tamil Nadu Green Climate Company was established to implement climate-related projects across departments. The State also created the Tamil Nadu Green Climate Fund with an allocation of Rs 1,000 crore, before formally launching the Tamil Nadu Climate Change Mission later that year.

At the urban level, the Greater Chennai Corporation became one of the first civic bodies in India to present a dedicated Climate Budget in 2023, earmarking Rs 1,341 crore for climate-related projects.

If the proposed allocation is announced on Wednesday, Tamil Nadu will join Odisha as one of the few states to introduce a dedicated Climate Budget, reflecting a growing emphasis on strengthening resilience against climate risks while mainstreaming climate action into development planning.