- Indian cities face severe climate risks, such as groundwater depletion, flooding, and cyclones, and are central to India’s 2070 net-zero goal.
- India began measuring cities’ climate readiness in 2019, conducting it in three phases and finding readiness stuck at a low 30–34% nationally.
- Despite this promising start, the evaluation stopped after three phases, leaving India without current data on city climate readiness.
- The views in the commentary are that of the author.
Cities are the source of more than 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. They are also home to more than half of humanity. As a focal point of human activity, cities are both major contributors to global warming and crucial actors in addressing it. Climate change impacts cities through more frequent extreme weather events, heatwaves, sea-level rise, and food and water insecurity, which worsen social and economic disparities, especially in developing countries.
Cities are key to combating climate change worldwide because many of the measures needed to cut emissions and build resilience are implemented at the local level, even though climate policies, programmes and schemes are often formulated at the national level. City Climate Action Plans are being prepared, implemented, monitored, evaluated and recalibrated, with stakeholders involved in their design and implementation.
Growing climate risks
Indian cities have started facing diverse climate change impacts, such as flooding, heatwaves, water scarcity and air pollution. For example, 21 major cities in India, including Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, are heading towards complete groundwater depletion, affecting access for 100 million people.
An Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) report prepared for the Fifteenth Finance Commission highlights flooding as the most widespread hazard affecting Indian cities and settlements. Some regions, particularly the plains of the Ganga and Brahmaputra, are impacted every year. Of India’s 7,500-kilometre coastline, 5,700 km is exposed to cyclones and flooding. About 40% of India’s population lives within 100 km of the coast, mostly in densely populated urban areas.
Studies have indicated that poor planning and urban management are expected to cost Indian cities between $2.6 billion and $13 billion annually.
On the other hand, the Coalition for Urban Transitions (2021) report projected substantial emission-reduction potential in India’s cities. It estimates that a set of proven low-carbon measures could reduce urban emissions from buildings, transport, waste and infrastructure materials by 89% in 2050, saving 1,784 MtCO2e relative to a baseline scenario.
Taking climate action to cities
Realising the gravity of climate change faced by Indian cities, as well as their potential to reduce urban emissions, India has initiated several steps to mainstream climate action in Indian cities.
In 2008, India, under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), identified eight core missions. One of them, the National Mission on Sustainable Habitat, addresses urban resilience and sustainability.
India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), formulated in response to the Paris Climate Agreement, identify cities as one of the key sub-national actors and include commitments towards increasing energy efficiency in the buildings sector, developing climate-resilient cities, reducing emissions from the waste sector and developing sustainable transportation systems.
Under its funding schemes for cities, such as the Smart Cities Mission, AMRUT and Swachh Bharat Mission, the Government of India (GoI) has provided funds for climate adaptation and mitigation actions, such as sustainable mobility, energy (using renewable energy, mainly solar energy, to power urban infrastructure and using energy-efficient lighting for streetlights and offices), WASH (improving water management, treating wastewater, recycling water and scientifically treating solid waste), and air-pollution control and air-quality improvement.
With the intent of mainstreaming climate action in Indian cities and establishing a one-stop shop for climate-informed urban development, the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), with support from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), established the Climate Centre for Cities (C-Cube) in June 2020.
The Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework was developed with the support of 26 organisations for MoHUA to measure climate action by Indian cities. It comprises 28 indicators across five thematic areas — urban planning, green cover and biodiversity; energy and green buildings; mobility and air quality; water management; and waste management.
Lost midway
‘What gets measured gets managed’ is a famous maxim which indicates that when something is measured, it becomes visible and people naturally focus on improving it. Without measurement, decisions are based on assumptions. But with measurement, they are based on facts, evidence and analysis. For example, if a city reports its carbon footprint annually, leaders and decision-makers are more likely to act to reduce it because the numbers make inaction obvious and create accountability.
Measurement is the starting point of climate action, as it is necessary to measure a city’s carbon footprint. Measurement also helps in understanding how a city is being impacted by climate change. It is an ongoing activity to assess a city’s climate actions and their effectiveness. Finally, measurement is both an ending and starting point, as it helps in course correction.
Globally, city climate readiness and actions are measured through several major indices and reporting frameworks, such as the CDP Cities A-List, the Global Cities Resilience Index and UN-Habitat’s World Cities Report 2024. These tools benchmark how cities mitigate emissions, adapt to climate risks and build resilience, allowing comparisons across regions and guiding investment decisions.
Understanding the importance of measuring cities’ climate readiness and climate actions, the GoI developed the Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF) with the help of 26 organisations and launched it in February 2019. In Phase 1, a baseline of 96 cities was established using the framework. Based on feedback from cities and experts, the CSCAF was revised in 2020.
In Phase 2, a survey of 126 large cities, including cities covered under the Smart Cities Mission, was carried out, and a Cities Readiness Report was published in June 2021. The assessment showed that the national average climate readiness across the 126 cities was just 30%.
In Phase 3, a survey of 226 cities was carried out in 2022, and the Cities Readiness Report 2023 was published. The assessment categorised cities into five readiness levels, from one star for 0-20% readiness to five stars for 80-100% readiness, to illustrate their performance in addressing climate change. Only Surat moved from four stars to five stars in the overall assessment. In comparison, four cities moved from four stars in 2021 to the five-star category in areas including urban planning, green cover and biodiversity. The assessment showed that the national average across cities is just 34%, with little improvement in climate readiness.
Both Climate Readiness Reports (2021 and 2023) brought out the fact that there is low readiness (30-34%) in Indian cities to undertake climate action and that there is an urgent need to improve their readiness to undertake actual climate action. The positive aspect of both these surveys and reports was that the activity was sustained over the period and was transparent, with the results disclosed to the public at large. It also incentivised cities to improve their readiness for climate action by introducing a ranking system and competition among them.
A crucial requirement for city climate action (measuring cities’ climate readiness) was addressed in a structured manner but seems to have been lost midway, as the next round of the CSCAF has not been carried out. As a result, there is no information available on whether the climate readiness of Indian cities has improved, what climate actions Indian cities have undertaken, or what outcomes their efforts are achieving.
Besides the unavailability of information on Indian cities’ climate readiness and climate actions due to the absence of CSCAF 4.0, there is, in general, no consolidated information on climate action by Indian cities. For example, how many cities are preparing City Climate Action Plans? How many have completed and started implementing them? How many cities have adopted climate budgeting or climate-smart capital infrastructure plans? C-Cube reportedly has 75 partners working with MoHUA and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) on city climate action. Still, even the C-Cube website does not provide consolidated information on climate action by Indian cities, what each partner is doing with which city, or the progress and outcomes of these initiatives.
There is an urgent need to undertake CSCAF every year with increased coverage, as India has 4,800 cities, of which 500 have populations above one lakh. CSCAF measures readiness, but there is a need to measure actual climate actions and outcomes.
Besides, there is a need for a one-stop public disclosure of all climate actions across all Indian cities.
Banner image: An uprooted tree and debris lies beside a road in the aftermath of cyclone Biparjoy in Kutch district, Gujarat in 2023. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
The author is a freelance consultant and visiting professor in urban finance and governance.