MUMBAI: Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray released Mumbai’s Climate Action Plan on March 13. It is India’s first climate action plan that sets short, medium and long-term climate goals aimed towards a net-zero target for 2050.
The MCAP is a policy document that adopts an evidence-based planning approach that mobilises resources to move from action planning to strategic projects. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation aims to achieve net-zero ahead of the Government of India’s deadline set at 2070.
The plan has been developed after a vulnerability assessment, greenhouse gas and natural green cover inventory, with technical support from the World Resources Institute India and the C40 Cities network. Thackeray said that the plan comes at a crucial time as a forecast says that till 2050, 80 per cent of Nariman Point in South Mumbai will be under water if no concrete action is taken.
IS Chahal, Commissioner, BMC, said that the civic body is currently working on infrastructure projects worth over Rs 40,000 crores that will assist Mumbai in becoming climate resilient. Signal free Mumbai coastal road, sewerage treatment plants recycling water, desalination plants and recently inaugurated works on Goregaon Mulund Link Road to reduce travel time are some of the projects.
Lubaina Rangwala, Program Head, Urban Development and Resilience Team, WRI India, said that the action plan has been built on the basis of scientific data and it focuses on six sectors in order to provide sector-specific mitigation and adaptation strategies. The MCAP puts emphasis on six key sectors – energy and buildings, sustainable mobility, urban greening and biodiversity, air quality, urban flooding, and water resource management. Aditya Thackeray, Minister of Environment, Tourism & Protocol, Government of Maharashtra, said that the document will likely be the most important document in the coming two decades for it provides a directive principal for climate change.