{"id":54410,"date":"2020-02-05T17:15:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-05T11:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/?p=54410"},"modified":"2020-02-26T17:17:23","modified_gmt":"2020-02-26T11:47:23","slug":"7-pm-urban-india-must-prepare-for-the-climate-crisis5th-february-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-urban-india-must-prepare-for-the-climate-crisis5th-february-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"7 PM |Urban India must prepare for the climate crisis|5th February 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Context:\n<\/strong>Urban\nIndia and mitigating the climate crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>More\nin news:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Australia\u2019s recent bout of bushfires,\nsparked by an extended drought, has devastated its local flora and fauna.<\/li><li>Indonesia\u2019s capital Jakarta witnessed\nrecord-breaking flooding with unseasonal rainfall, displacing tens of\nthousands.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recent\nevents signaling towards climate crisis:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>In 2018 Kerala witnessed heavy flooding,\ncombined with tropical cyclones such as Gaja and Titli.<\/li><li>Along with these events, an unusual\nheatwave in north and west India.<\/li><li>Northern Indian cities like Delhi and\nmany others in state of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan witnessed more\nthan usual cold to severe cold days in winters, breaking records of almost a\ncentury.<\/li><li>According to the recent study carried\nout by a US research institute Climate Central (2019), parts of cities such as\nMumbai, Kolkata, Surat and Kakinada are at risk of being under water by 2050. <\/li><li>In 2018, India suffered over 2,081\ndeaths from climate-triggered extreme weather events.<\/li><li>Economically, these events resulted into\na loss of over $37.8 billion in 2018 (about three times the losses of 2017).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"728\" height=\"841\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/1-9.jpg?resize=728%2C841&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"https:\/\/images.livemint.com\/img\/2019\/07\/21\/original\/Story-1-Page-Graphic-web2a_1563717423866.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-54411\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Globally, Australia\u2019s bushfire that is\nsparked by extended drought and Indonesia\u2019s flooding due to unseasonal rainfall\nare signals of climate crisis that humanity is facing.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Impact\nof Climate crisis:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Average temperatures in India increased\nby 0.6\u00b0C between 1910 and 2018.<\/li><li>The World Bank estimates that, if\nclimate change continues unhindered, then average temperatures in India could\nreach as high as 29.1\u00b0 C by the end of the century (up from 25.1\u00b0 C currently).<\/li><li>In parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil\nNadu, Kerala and the North-East, average temperature over the last decade has\nrisen by nearly 1\u00b0 C compared to the historical average in the 1950-80 period.<\/li><li>According to the 2017-18 Economic\nSurvey, extreme temperatures and droughts (defined as temperatures or rainfall\nloss 40% greater than the median) shrink farmer incomes to the tune of 4-14%\nfor key crops.&nbsp;<\/li><li>According to the Global Climate Risk\nIndex released by Germany-based think tank, Germanwatch, India is the 14th most\nclimate change-affected country in the world.&nbsp;<strong><\/strong><\/li><li>Economic costs:\n<\/li><li>According\nto a new Stanford study, global warming has made India\u2019s economy 31 per cent\nsmaller than it would have been otherwise. It highlights how temperature\nchanges have widened inequalities between cool countries like Norway while\ndragging down growth in hot places like India. <\/li><li>The\nWorld Bank calculates climate change will shave nearly 3 per cent off India\u2019s\nGDP and depress living standards of nearly half its population by 2050. <\/li><li>The\nUN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction estimates India\u2019s suffered $79.5 billion\nin economic losses in 19 years due to climate-change disasters.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Co-benefit\nApproach:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The IPCC first offered a definition of\nCo-benefits in its third Assessment Report on Mitigation, as follows:\n\u201cCo-benefits\u201d are the benefits from policy options implemented for various\nreasons at the same time, acknowledging that most policies resulting in GHG\nmitigation also have other, often at least equally important, rationales.<\/li><li>At its core, a co-benefits approach is a\nwin-win strategy aimed at capturing both development and climate benefits in a\nsingle policy or measure.<\/li><li>The co-benefits approach helps\ndeveloping countries increase their ownership while engaging in efforts to\naddress climate change, by introducing measures to achieve tangible development\nbenefits. <\/li><li>It is also considered to be a practical\napproach for developed countries to cooperate with developing countries, where\neconomic and social development is a priority at the national and local levels.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Such\nan approach could lead to improved energy access, waste management, cleaner air\nand the generation of employment. Urban India must move from\n\u2018Development-first approach\u2019 to \u2018Co-benefit Approach\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommendations\nfor development in Urban India:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Develop\na co-benefits framework based on five strategic sectors; Health, Mobility,\nResources, Buildings and Economy. <\/strong>For instance, <\/li><li>Cities\nmust stop paving over soil that is water-absorbent, or building over natural\nfloodplains.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Policy\nmakers can upgrade existing methods for measuring economic, social and environmental\nco-benefits and adjust to a climate resilience framework. <\/li><li>Using\npilot studies, develop an integrated accounting framework for municipal\ngovernments that includes climate, economic, social and environmental\nindicators and data.<\/li><li>A chain of waste management initiatives has been kicked off in\nMumbai, Surat and Kolkata. The Smart Cities Mission has been a welcome initial\nstep towards addressing the climate crisis.<\/li><li><strong>Improve\nthe collection and analysis of climate co-benefits data.<\/strong> For\nexample, most coastal urban road projects continue to use reports from the 20th\ncentury (between 1878 and 1993) which forecast sea level rises of 1.27 mm per\nyear. Meanwhile, as per the National Institute of Oceanography in Goa, the\naverage sea level rise in India has increased to 3.2 mm per year in the period\n1993-2012.<\/li><li><strong>Implement\na research programme on governance and finance required for delivering\nco-benefits.<\/strong> For instance, a study found that Kolkata could\nreduce its carbon emission by 21%, across sectors, by 2025, with investments\nhaving a payback period of four years. Reinvesting the proceeds of such an\ninvestment would lead to a further reduction in carbon emissions for the\ncity.&nbsp;India\u2019s National Action Plan for Climate Change (2008) integrates this\napproach. However the problem lies in implementation of such approach. Indian\npolicy makers must work towards better implementation.<\/li><li><strong>Develop\na communication strategy for taking action based on co-benefits.<\/strong>\nThere is need to develop an evidence base for best practice to communicate\nco-benefits to mayors, senior city officials, business, citizens and NGOs.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Conclusion:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It would be\ndifficult to fulfill the demand of liveable cities for the growing urban\npopulation with the help of development-first approach. The right set of\ninvestments in climate mitigation will help make our cities resilient, helping\nthem cope with climatic extremes, such as reduction in water supply, or a\nheatwave.&nbsp;By adapting and mitigating at the right time, we can avoid an\nupcoming crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source:\n<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/analysis\/urban-india-must-prepare-for-the-climate-crisis\/story-OYu2uqo3TSduoKDTME4iZO.html\">https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/analysis\/urban-india-must-prepare-for-the-climate-crisis\/story-OYu2uqo3TSduoKDTME4iZO.html<\/a><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Context: Urban India and mitigating the climate crisis. More in news: Australia\u2019s recent bout of bushfires, sparked by an extended drought, has devastated its local flora and fauna. Indonesia\u2019s capital Jakarta witnessed record-breaking flooding with unseasonal rainfall, displacing tens of thousands.&nbsp; Recent events signaling towards climate crisis: In 2018 Kerala witnessed heavy flooding, combined with&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-urban-india-must-prepare-for-the-climate-crisis5th-february-2020\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">7 PM |Urban India must prepare for the climate crisis|5th February 2020<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,955],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-pm","category-7-pm-brief-infograph","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":146,"cached_at":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54410\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}