Cities Are Taking Climate Action

Context: Climate Change is throwing up many challenges to  Urbanization and some cities are responding in their way, but much needs to be done.

Exiting Challenges of climate change and inclusive development is due to

• Lack of Political will and Inadequate finances.
• Climate resilience plans in Indian cities focus on isolated risks rather than preparing for multiple, intersecting risks but multiple risks converge and reinforce each other for example, seasonal cycles of flooding and water scarcity in Chennai.
• Inadequate institutional capacity in existing government departments.

Way Forward and lessons from some major cities:

• Enhancing the Institutional Capacity of departments that requires
  • Resilience planners in every line department
  • Long-term Planning for operation & expansion of Cities.
  • Creating communication channels across departments for vertical and horizontal knowledge sharing.
• Changing behaviours and lifestyles of the common people  by
  • Encouraging bottom-up sustainable practices like Urban farminge growing one ‘s food on terraces & simultaneously enhancing biodiversity.
  • Composting organic waste and reducing landfill pressure.
  • Sharing farm produces with a neighbour, bringing communities closer & creating awareness about food growing.
• Implementation of Successful Models: such as Heat Action Plan (HAP)of Ahemdabad which resulted in a reduction in heat mortality. The plan is based on
  • Collaboration between various stakeholders such as government departments, NGOs, researchers & citizens.
  • Focuses on high-risk social groups like wage labourers, low-income groups, women, and the elderly.
  • Combining infrastructural interventions (for example, painting roofs white) with behavioral aspects (building public awareness on managing heat).
• Implementing Natural solutions which augur well with the human system such as mangrove restoration in coastal Tamil Nadu and urban wetland management in Bengaluru.