Climate action imperatives for Bengaluru

In his opening remarks, at the COP27 in Egypt, the United Nations Secretary General reminded the world that the answer to the climate crisis is in our hands and that humanity has the choice – to cooperate or perish. As world leaders negotiate on climate goals, various parts of India are still struggling with the aftermath of devastating flooding.

Poorly planned and managed urban areas face perilous consequences of natural catastrophes. Recent spatial analyses of Bengaluru indicate that most of the natural floodplains have been built upon, directly correlating to the pockets that experienced severe inundation.

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The losses incurred, due to the flooding on August 30, alone, were estimated at Rs 225 crore for the companies represented by the Outer Ring Road Companies Association. This does not include the losses sustained by others, including the poor and the marginalised or the significant reputation damage sustained by the city.

Such events are likely to become more frequent and severe in the future, further exacerbated by the challenges of congestion and pollution. It is imperative for the city to plan, prepare, and manage the dual conundrum of climate change and urbanisation. All Indian cities, including Bengaluru, are under increasing pressure to mitigate GHG emissions in order to meet India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Parallelly, urban India is also on a steep economic and demographic growth trajectory, as it strives to meet citizen aspirations for a better quality of life. These two, somewhat conflicting, goals need to be synchronised. Bengaluru’s city-level Climate Action and Resilience Plan (CAP) attempts to bridge this gap.

Bengaluru is one of the few cities in India to have initiated preparation of a CAP under the C40 Cities network. While a city-level plan, it has the larger mandate of being aligned with global, national, and sub-national climate goals. Spearheaded by the Bruhat BBMP, the CAP marks the city’s first data-driven, multi-stakeholder collaborative exercise to address the dual challenges of climate change mitigation and adaptation. This is also the first time that a Bengaluru-specific greenhouse gas (GHG) emission inventory has been prepared to identify mitigative actions that the city can take.

The CAP has two primary objectives: mitigation and adaptation. While mitigation aims to reduce GHG emissions, adaptation seeks to identify the specific actions needed to build resilience in sectors and areas that are most vulnerable to climate-related hazards. The plan sets clear goals, targets, and actions across seven key sectors: energy and buildings, transport, solid waste, water and wastewater, air quality, urban planning, greening and biodiversity, and disaster resilience. Essentially, the CAP provides a much-needed climate lens to all existing sectoral plans to enhance their alignment with national climate goals.

Implementation of the plan would require efforts on three primary fronts: Bengaluru’s spatial growth is governed by the Revised Master Plan-2015 (RMP-2015), which is awaiting revision. On-ground infrastructure planning is carried out by sectoral agencies such as Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) and Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB). What is missing is informed knowledge, indicative baselines, monitoring and projection mapping methodologies, and the likely course corrections needed to enhance resilience to climate change.

A dedicated Climate Action Cell that can be empowered with funds, functions, and functionaries and anchor coordination between different city agencies will be key to the sustainability and viability of the plan. Finally, the third critical aspect would be building the institutional capacities of all key stakeholders to enable a systemic shift in present thinking and collaborate to deliver relevant mandates at all levels of governance.

The CAP, despite being an intensely data-oriented and collaborative exercise, does not carry statutory weight. Thus, instead of being seen as a top-down exercise, its success will lie in buy-in from all stakeholder groups, namely Bengaluru’s residents -- students, local agencies, citizen groups, NGOs, academia, the media, and business associations, among others.

Evolving platforms that can bring all stakeholders together will ensure continuity of the initiatives across leadership changes and the political economy. To ensure inclusive and equitable outcomes, we need to take collective ownership and form radical partnerships to drive city-level climate action. According to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, if human activity
is the cause of the climate problem, human action must be
the solution.

(The writers are with World Resources Institute India (WRI India).)

Bhattacharya is Programme Lead, Urban Development, and Dhindaw is Programme Director, Integrated Urban Development, Planning and Resilience at the World Resources Institute India (WRI India).)