WEF and NIUA collaborate for Sustainable Cities Development Programme

NEW DELHI: The World Economic Forum (WEF) and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on February 24, to together work on ‘Sustainable Cities India Programme’. The jointly designed programme aims to create an environment to enable cities to generate decarbonisation solutions in various sectors including energy, transport, and built environment. This programme has been initiated after Prime Minister Narendra Modi at COP 26 stated India’s commitment to turn net zero by 2070.

The ‘Sustainable Cities India programme’ has been designed to enable cities to decarbonise in a systematic and sustainable manner, so that they can efficiently reduce emissions and deliver resilient and equitable urban ecosystems. Kunal Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, said that India is committed to become Net Zero by 2070, which aligns with the vision for a ‘future ready’ India set by PM Modi at COP 26 Summit. He said that in order to realise this mission, it will be important to accelerate the clean energy transition, conversation and more importantly, action amongst all actors of the quadruple helix. He added that this partnership between NIUA and WEF is an important step towards that direction. This collaboration is expected to help cities in India and from across the globe learn from one another and drive action towards sustainable development and climate resilience.

The Forum and NIUA are set to adapt the Forum’s City Sprint Process and Toolbox of Solutions for decarbonisation in the context of five to seven Indian cities across two years. The City Sprint process is a series of multi-sectoral, multi-stakeholder workshops that involves enabling business, government, and civil society leaders to decarbonise through clean electrification and circularity. It results in shortlist of relevant policies and business models, which reduces emissions along with maximising system value, such as improved air quality and job creation. City Sprints are expected to jumpstart and accelerate net zero planning and action.

The process of City Sprint uses a digital platform named Toolbox of Solutions. It contains over 200 examples of clean electrification, efficiency, and smart infrastructure best practices and case studies from buildings, energy systems, and mobility from across 110 cities around the world. Hitesh Vaidya, Director, NIUA, said that the scale and pace of India’s rapid urbanisation is unprecedented. He said that that is what makes imperative for institutions to prioritise and embed climate resilience in the urban development process. Therefore, he added that cross-sector and inter-organisational partnerships are crucial to foster an exchange of knowledge and identify best practices that can be applied effectively in the Indian context. He added that NIUA’s collaboration with WEF is of great value because it will build the capacities of urban practitioners in India through City Sprint workshops along with providing them access to a global Toolbox of Solutions and connect them with other potential partners in making Indian cities future ready.