Sustainable and just solutions to the climate crisis

(GS2&3:Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources & Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.)

Context:

• India’s long-term strategy must accommodate the most vulnerable of its people in its low-emissions pathways to achieve sustainable economic growth and poverty eradication.

Multi-sectoral measures:

• India unveiled its long-term climate action plan at the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27), held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in November. 
• While the document titled ‘Long-Term Low-Carbon Development Strategy (LT-LCDS)’ has multi-sectoral measures to reach a net-zero emissions status, climate-resilient urbanisation forms a cornerstone of the Government of India’s strategy under the Paris Agreement.
• This three-pronged and long-term plan for urban areas focuses on adaptation and resource efficiency in urban planning, climate-responsive and climate-resilient buildings, and municipal service delivery.

Data-driven approach:

• There are several flagship missions championed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs which target specific objectives towards creating a smart, sustainable and resilient urban India. 
• To facilitate implementation of the LT-LCDS and other missions, and enable their integration, a data-driven approach may be useful. 
• Demonstrating urban planning strategies aimed at climate resilience through specific actions and interventions and linking them to various finance streams accessible to the urban local bodies is important.

Effective and efficient planning:

• Cities need effective and efficient planning instruments that translate master plans into transformative business-ready investment projects.
• For example, the Urban Sustainability Assessment Framework (USAF), a decision support tool of UN-Habitat for municipal commissioners and urban practitioners, supports the sustainable and resilient urban planning and management of Indian cities. 
• It enables cities to regularly capture inter-sectoral data and corresponding analysis on urban metrices, thereby helping in monitoring the performance of a city in static and dynamic contexts. 
• Cities can enhance vertical integration by pulling together the missions’ objectives at the central level, State policies and projects, and local implementation through city-specific strategic actions linked to capital investment planning.

Nature-based solutions:

• There are opportunities for improvement and increased usage of the NMT network though better land-use integration. 
• Spatial analyses can inform decision-making towards co-location of investments and projects from various missions for cumulative community impact and enhanced urban value.
• As nature-based solutions provide a range of solutions for climate change adaptation over hard gray infrastructure.

Case study of jaipur:

• Jaipur (Rajasthan), with only 1.42 sq.m per capita of open space against a benchmark of 12 sq.m per person, the desert capital also experiences various hazards that include heat waves, droughts and urban flooding. 
• Residential areas with at least 10% of land area under open space and parks were found to be at least 1.25°C cooler than neighbourhoods with less green pockets. 
• In industrial pockets, the urban heat island impact was greater with temperatures higher by 1.1°C. 
• There are several macro and micro options available to Jaipur such as planting shade trees, urban forests, installing cool roofs, planning cool islands and investing in city scale blue green infrastructure to improve the micro-climate and environmental conditions.

Conclusion:

• The suggested planning approach merits a comprehensive stakeholder participation towards building climate resilience. 
• Active involvement from various tiers of government, non-governmental, community-based organizations, and academic institutions is desirable at each step from building a sustainability profile to arriving at very specific interventions.