CHENNAI: Even as the vagaries of climate change threatens Chennai in the form of heavy rain and extreme heat, a report prepared by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), along with 40 Cities, has revealed the GCC has spent around 42% of its 2025-26 budget towards climate mitigation and adaptation projects.
As per ‘Greater Chennai Corporation Climate Budge Report 2025-2026’, released by Mayor R Priya on Monday, GCC has earmarked Rs 3,190.61 crore towards capital expenditure for 2025-26 fiscal, of which Rs 1,341.2 crore (42.04%) has been identified as climate-relevant spending. Sector-wise, urban flooding and water scarcity account for the largest share (62.24%) of climate expenditure, followed by waste management (26.15%) and sustainable mobility (9.96%).
Notably, adaptation initiatives constitute the largest component of the climate budget at 62.8%, followed by initiatives under mitigation (37.06%) and resilience (0.13%).
Climate-relevant projects implemented by the GCC during the year, as per the report, include the upgradation of stormwater drains and culvert, biomining at Kodungaiyur and Perungudi dumping grounds, complete streets and health walkways initiatives, development of sponge parks and rainwater harvesting systems, restoration of lakes, pond rejuvenation and energy-efficient interventions in school buildings, among others.
“The quantified actions under this year’s (2025-26) climate budget are expected to deliver an estimated reduction of 4.1 million metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e),” the report estimated.
Projections done for the preparation of Chennai Climate Action Plan warned that by 2050, if no action is taken (BAU scenario), emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) are projected to nearly quadruple from 2018 levels, reaching 55.08 million tCO2e by 2050 due to high population and GDP growth.
In the Existing and Planned scenario, emissions would still rise to 27.08 million tCO2e, whereas the Ambitious scenario could limit them to 12.5 million tCO2e by 2050. The Extended scenario adopts more aggressive strategies, projecting a 2% increase by 2030, and thereafter, reductions of 36% by 2040 and 87% by 2050, compared to 2018 levels.
Using the projections, GCC, in the Chennai Climate Action Plan, has set city-wide GHG targets of 1% increase in emissions by 2030, 40% decrease in emissions by 2040, and 92% decrease in emissions (net zero) by 2050 compared to 2018 emission levels.
GCC is constructing 240 km of stormwater drains to handle up to 72 mm of rainfall per hour. As many as 44 ponds with a combined 1.5 million cubic metre capacity are being rejuvenated to strengthen urban water resilience.