Linkagebetween climate change and rural development in North-East India: An econometric analysis.

Human led economic and social activities effect the environment as well as the climate. On the other hand, impact of climate change on human life; especially on human development is one of the rising concerns of present days’ discussions. Since climate change is a global phenomenon, its negative impacts may affect all countries, irrespective of their contribution to the climate change. Developing countries are in general dominated by rural economy and agricultural activities mostly. So it is of immense importance to study the linkage between climate change and rural development, if any, in developing countries like India. Several studies have been raising this issue. However, less attention has been paid to study this linkagein North-East India. North-East India is abiodiversity hotspot of India. At the same time this region is developing very fast although it is one of the least industrialized parts of the country. So taking North-East Indian states as a case study, this paper endeavours to examine if there is a linkage between climate change and the rural development of North-East India for the study period from 1970s to 2014–15 within the framework of indicators suggested by the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC). The various econometric tests and analyses provide evidences regarding the relationship between climate change and rural development in this region. The rising temperature and unseasonal rainfall even with little industrialization is a matter of concern for this region and for the whole of India, because it is the development of agriculture in particular and rural area in general which makes all round development of the Indian economy.