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Urban Climate Blueprint

As cities grapple with the escalating impacts of climate change, the imperative for proactive measures intensifies. This article delves into the innovative approach to instituting city-level climate action cells. It explores how these cells, integral to municipal Climate Action Plans, coordinated efforts to combat climate-challenges, offers a blueprint for resilient and sustainable urban governance.

Cities across the globe are at a critical juncture facing extreme climate events such as oppressive heat waves, deteriorating air quality, regular episodes of heavy storms, and urban flooding. The Global Climate Risk Index 2021 ranked India among the top 10 countries most affected by climate change-induced events in terms of human casualties, infrastructure damage, and economic losses. The rapid formation of tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea, and Indian Ocean are stark reminders that the catastrophe of climate change is no longer a distant occurrence, rather a reality that we are witnessing in our everyday lives.

Indian cities across the national geography are exploring different avenues to leverage potential measures for mitigating the impacts of climate change. One such emerging trend in leveraging climate action is the adoption of a comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CAP) that encompasses multiple strategies, institutional mechanisms, and coordinated efforts by urban local bodies in collaboration with other stakeholders for the pursuit of a sustainable and resilient urban landscape that aligns with the global climate agenda. This article shall attempt to further elaborate upon institutionalising climate action at the municipal level.

Urban Climate leaders

For the first time, cities were at the forefront of climate negotiation at the 28th Conference of Parties (COP-28) in Dubai in November 2023. Thus, a special day was dedicated to a ministerial meeting on urbanisation and climate change at the COP.

Amidst the global conversation around climate change negotiations at the COP, the latest launch of the Bengaluru Climate Action and Resilience Plan (BCAP) by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is the second metropolis-level city, after Mumbai. World Resource India (a global research organisation that aims to analyse and address environment and development challenges) and C40 Cities (a global network of mayors representing leading cities that are united to confront the climate crisis) have been engaged as knowledge partners in preparing the plan.

The climate action plan enlists a total of 269 actions for the city to become carbon neutral and aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and build resilience against climate-related hazards by 2050.This will be much ahead of the Government of India’s target of being carbon neutral by 2070, as per the statement made by the Prime Minister at COP 26 in Glasgow in 2021.

Climate action hub

The BCAP proposes to establish a city-level Climate Action Cell (CAC) to provide a dedicated institutional framework and facilitate significant efforts required for both mitigation and adaptation solutions, aiming to sustain the lush landscapes of the garden city. The proposed CAC is primarily tasked with aiding, monitoring, and implementing BCAP across city agencies and helping them achieve the goals and targets set across all seven sectors identified in the climate action plan. The Climate Cell will ensure policy coherence by leveraging partnerships with academic and civil society organisations.
The climate cell will be a catalyst and well-equipped to turn actions into implementable and bankable projects and to develop coordinated solutions for better flood and heat resilience for the city administration. Moreover, the cell will also ensure the timely upgrade of the city’s vulnerability assessment, which is a ward-level assessment prioritising climatically vulnerable hotspots and putting emphasis on evidence-based solutions.

Managing Governance challenges

To this day, the governance framework for Indian cities as prescribed in the 74th Constitution Amendment has not substantially devolved. The 12th schedule inserted by the Constitution Amendment Act enlists 18 functions for urban local bodies, but not all the functions are completely delegated by states to the municipalities. Having said that, the proposal of setting up a city-level climate cell is a welcome attempt at post-neoliberal governance, ushering in a new public management (NPM) that focuses on overcoming the traditional knowledge dogma and replacing it with an orientation towards a more efficient, transparent, and professional administration that empowers citizens as consumers and provides practical solutions to the concurrent crisis of governability.

The proposed Climate Action Cell in this scenario is a corollary of the NPM model of reinventing urban governance that bypasses the prescribed obligatory functions of municipal corporations and adopts a de-bureaucratic approach by coordinating with relevant agencies and departments, keeping in mind the multisectoral and multistakeholder approach of a comprehensive Climate Action and Resilience Plan to reduce climate vulnerability.

Way forward

As cities play a major role in the fight against climate change, the ULBs need to prioritise mitigation and adaptation strategies designed to overcome the challenges of climate hazards. Thus, the framework detailed in the localised Climate Action Plan is not an end in itself but a concentrated effort towards integrating and mainstreaming climate action within the political, economic, and civic discourse that is shaping the future of our cities.

The formation of the Climate Action Cell is a crucial step towards ensuring decentralised, coordinated responses essential to advancing climate action within urban local bodies. To further strengthen this action, the next step must focus on prioritising and channeling funds in municipal budgets towards sustainable ventures. The city’s municipal budget can be an important mechanism for the allocation of funds and functions for comprehensive climate action and resilience.

Embedding climate-related factors into all facets of urban planning and fiscal management is no longer optional but a necessity. The proposed Climate Action Cell should desire to leverage the interests of local administrators by bringing together different departments under a single lens to deliver climate action. By doing so, cities can transform into resilient, forward-thinking communities, ready to tackle the challenges posed by climate change. Lastly, stronger political will and public participation are essential for setting a greener, more sustainable urban future, benefiting current and future generations alike.