With close to 68 per cent of the global population expected to reside in cities by 2050, urban areas find themselves on the frontline of climate risks. Soaring temperatures, devastating droughts, raging forest fires and encroaching sea levels pose a grave threat to city infrastructure, livelihoods and economies. Over-reliance on fossil fuels in cities intensifies greenhouse gas emissions, exacerbating the climate change they face.
India is taking some significant steps in its action against climate change, positioning itself as a key global player in this issue. The country has committed to ambitious renewable energy targets, aiming to achieve 450 GW of renewable capacity by 2030. India’s efforts have resulted in a substantial increase in renewable energy deployment, with solar and wind power leading the way.
There is still a long way to go. The extreme flooding in the northern parts of the country this year is a bitter pill to swallow and a stark reminder to undo several monumental mistakes urban planners committed in the past.
However, there are a few cities in India that are spearheading the change and are on the right path to becoming climate resilient. In a recent report titled “State of Cities - Towards Low Carbon and Resilient Pathways” published by the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) and the South Asian chapter of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), 15 Indian cities, which were supported through donor-funded projects in preparation of city-level greenhouse gas emission (GHG) inventories, were analysed and rated.
The report aimed to enable local governments to identify targeted mitigation interventions and set emission reduction objectives. Also, it sought to improve and reinforce the integration of climate change initiatives at the city level.
This is a first-of-its-kind exercise and comes at a time when India hopes to achieve net zero by 2070 and mitigate the impact of climate change. As per the climate projections, heat waves are likely to increase in India by 75% in a business-as-usual scenario, 77 cities in the coastal region are prone to frequent cyclones, over 140 cities are prone to high risk of flooding and over 12% of landmass in India prone to landslides.
These 15 cities - Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Gwalior, Kochi, Nagpur, Panaji, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Rajkot, Shimla, Siliguri, Thane, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy), Tirunelveli, Udaipur, Vadodara - combined contribute to 38 million tCO2e (tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent), which is a standard unit for counting any greenhouse gas emission to that of one unit mass of carbon dioxide based on the global warming potential. These cities consume 27,973 million kWh of electricity.
To reduce the carbon footprint, the cities are undertaking several measures. Soumya Chaturvedula, deputy director, of ICLEI South Asia, told TNIE: “There is a positive momentum in recognising climate change as a mainstream problem that affects day-to-day life. Cities are allocating funds in their municipal budgets and also looking to engage with the private sector and communities. For instance, Coimbatore is pushing for bio-CNG and integration with the gas grid. The detailed project report is being prepared for a 200 tons per day capacity waste to bio-CNG. Likewise, Tirunelveli and Trichy are taking nature-based solutions to mitigate flooding. Rajkot in Gujarat is providing subsidies for e-autos.”
Cities such as Coimbatore have moved to update their first Climate Action Plan and are part of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy. With 25% reduction in annual GHG emissions by 2022-23 from the 2015-16 baseline, Coimbatore is in the process of updating its Climate Resilience Action Plan (2nd generation plan) and setting climate resilience targets over the 2020-21 baseline.
However, there are some other mitigation points that Coimbatore could look at for effective implementation of its climate action plan. “The city can develop aquifer maps and analyse water sources through planning followed by restoration and rejuvenation of such water resources, and finally adopting an integrated urban water management strategy. Coimbatore can also undertake the identification of reserved municipal sites for the development of green areas and maintain such reserved sites as urban green spaces. Furthermore, Coimbatore can plan a policy to guide placement of utilities on roads in order to reserve space and integrate tree plantation,” said Emani Kumar, Executive Director, ICLEI South Asia.
As per the report, Coimbatore has GHG emissions of 3.22 million tCO2e, uses 21.13 million Giga Joule energy and consumes 2,192 million kWh of electricity annually.
Among all the 15 cities studied, Ahmedabad reports the highest GHG emissions of 13.1 million tCO2e and consumes 11,690 million kWh of electricity. Gujarat’s capital is in the process of preparing its climate-resilient action plan and setting its climate resilience targets.
Hitesh Vaidya, Director, National Institute of Urban Affairs said the report comes at a critical juncture when there is a growing demand for Indian cities to adopt resilient climate actions to attract investments for low carbon transitions.
“Drawn through our work with ICLEI South Asia, the report gives us an insight into 15 of India’s smart cities, and their future challenges and pathways. NIUA’s role as the U20 secretariat is to help cities understand their commitments and develop sustainable solutions to achieve inclusive prosperity.”