Cities: Creator, victim & solution to Climate Change

In alleviation and adaptation, cities play a critical role in controlling the unavoidable and avoiding the uncontrollable. Well-planned, compact cities can be highly resource-efficient and lead to improved quality of living for the urban population. To realise this dream of lowering the risks of climate change and leading the way to sustainable development, the centres of expertise and innovation, cities, have to make efforts not only at the international, but at the local level too.

According to several scientific organisations including the National Aeronautics Space Administration or NASA, the year 2020 was the warmest year on record. Although, as a result of the lockdowns around the world to control the COVID pandemic, enormous drops in transport and industrial activity resulted in a decline in daily global carbon emissions by 17 per cent in April 2020.

India was one of the ten most affected countries by climate risk in 2015. Based on fatalities and losses in 2015, India is among the fifty most vulnerable countries of the world. The growing urban population and economic growth are two important factors that are increasing the importance of adaptation and mitigation considerations for Indian cities due to associated challenges

However, carbon dioxide (CO2) levels reached their highest monthly average ever recorded in May last year. The reason is that the CO2 that humans have already emitted can remain in the atmosphere for hundreds of years; some of it could even last tens of thousands of years.
Besides the lethal carbon emissions, COVID-19 is resulting in changes in individual behaviour and social attitudes and this is consequently changing the approach and ideologies of governments from all over the world. This will have impacts on the environment and on our ability to fight climate change. At this point in time, it is uncertain how these factors will balance out in the end.
However, one thing is certain: large-scale initiatives, along with initiatives at the local level, will be essential to avoid the worst impacts of
climate change.

How are cities exposed to climate change?

The population in cities is likely to increase by around 500 million over the next 50 years. The cascading impacts of rising temperatures and changes in precipitation are dire: at least 200 cities risk running out of water, heavily impacting food and water security. As the COVID-19 pandemic has already strained city resources, the ability of cities to transition to carbon-neutral economies is particularly at risk; over 10,000 cities have committed to a green transition, but they may not be able to finance this due to these difficult times. Climate change not only has economic consequences but physical too, due to numerous and diverse human activities. With respect to cities, the impacts of climate change are significant. These include increased intensity of heat waves, with direct effects on human health, especially in cities; increased risk of inland flooding; retreat of mountain glaciers, with impacts on water availability and its quality in urban areas; and an increased risk of drought and water shortage in already dry regions.

Cities both victim and cause of temperature change

Over half of the world’s population lives in cities, and as estimates suggest, urban population will increase to over two thirds by 2030. Cities use an enormous proportion of the world’s total energy supply and are responsible for approximately 70 per cent of global energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions which trap heat and lead to global warming. Levels of CO2, the most pervasive GHG, are at the highest levels ever, mostly due to burning of fossil fuels for energy. The immense carbon footprint produced by our cities is caused mainly due to faulty planning and arrangement.
Cities, being the primary cause of climate change, are also the most troubled by it. Most cities situated near water bodies face the risk of floods due to rising sea levels, storms, and cyclones. Nevertheless, given their role as hubs of innovation and creativity, we also look to cities to provide us with answers. Mitigation policies, energy generation, urban infrastructure, mobility, and planning solutions and innovations in cities have the potential to deliver major emission cuts.

India

According to Germawatch, a non-profit organisation working for environment, India was one of the ten most affected countries by climate risk in 2015. Based on fatalities and losses in 2015, India is among the fifty most vulnerable countries of the world. The growing urban population and economic growth are two important factors that are increasing the importance of adaptation and mitigation considerations for Indian cities due to associated challenges. However, since the very beginning, India has shown proactive leadership in climate change mitigation efforts, evident in its falling carbon intensity of the economy in the last couple of years. Domestic mitigation measures have led to an appreciable reduction in carbon intensity of Indian GDP.
Many Indian cities are already taking action on climate change. For instance, New Delhi, the capital of India, launched India’s first city-level climate change agenda in 2009, while other cities such as Hyderabad and Kolkata have implemented sectorial strategies with climate benefits in areas such as transportation and waste management. Rajkot has conducted emissions inventories using the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories, has developed a Low Emission Development Strategy Action Plan, and developed a number of specific mitigation and adaptation actions to achieve its climate goals.Last year, the Government of India launched initiatives for cities to combat climate change. The launch of this initiative intends to address two key areas in urban challenges – climate change and liveability. Recently, India was successful in dropping off 24 per cent in the emission intensity.

Cities around the world breaking ground for others

Barcelona is addressing its fight against air pollution by expanding the municipality’s tree canopy to nearly 30 per cent of the city’s land area by 2037. The city recently created an extensive Climate Plan that aims at cutting per capita greenhouse gas emissions by
45 per cent before 2030, and additionally promotes strategies such as the superblocks innovate urban model, whereby certain fragments of the city are secured for exclusive pedestrian use to enhance cleaner air and the liveliness of its streets.
On the other side of the world, in Auckland, mitigation strategies prioritize citizen engagement by involving over 150 stakeholders in the co-creation of the roadmap to achieve the city’s target to reduce CO2 emissions by 40 per cent before 2040. The city also started a revolving fund to minimize energy use and emissions, and the reinvested savings are expected to result in over $30 million in the coming 20 years. This will be allocated to further reduce the city’s contribution to climate change.
Oslo, the capital and most populated city of Norway, has set a target of reducing CO2 emissions by
95 per cent before 2030. It is doing this by doubling electric vehicles and charging stations, along with incentives and subsidies. Oslo government also introduced circular waste management systems, purchased a bio-gas plant, and is recycling 50 per cent of all its
food waste. Cities are in urgent need of diversifying their energy production. Although in many parts of the world, the federal and state governments administer energy policies, cities wield more leverage over public and private utilities. Cities are exceptionally transforming their energy grids through initiatives such as moving to community solar and wind farms and promoting localised, or embedded energy schemes. They are reducing emissions and generating massive savings in the process. Thus far, thousands of cities have adopted renewable energy, and today more than 40 cities are entirely powered by renewables, from Georgetown in Texas to Reykjavik in Iceland and Shenzhen in China.

Conclusion

The future of perpetual development, poverty removal, and the world’s health and management of climate change are firmly aligned. The capacity of GHG emission reductions in cities and capability of cities of the world to take actions to combat climate change is significant. If this potential is fully deployed, the world will be closer to the aim of keeping global warming below 1.5 degree Celsius.