Introduction:

Climate change impacts such as increased rainfall intensity, storm surges, and flooding and urban heat island effects are likely to affect many urban systems worldwide. These will impact severely on urban systems and the populations and services they support. For the second time this year, Bihar is submerged. In July, 13 districts in north Bihar were inundated, and now, it’s the turn of four other districts, including the capital, Patna.

Body:

Climate change presents a significant challenge for urban systems worldwide. Its effects will likely intensify over the coming decades. Whilst humanity may be able to take collective action to limit the intensity of these effects, scientific evidence indicates that some are already happening and will continue to occur, irrespective of any ongoing mitigation.

Climate change and poor urban planning effects:

• Urban sprawl, combined with unsustainable transportation planning and energy guzzling building practices, has been the main source for the GHG emission.
• This has aggravated climate effects like urban floods, urban heat islands, reduced ground water table levels etc.
• The floods, especially in urban India, are taking place not just due to climate change, but also inadequate urban planning, which has not paid attention to natural water bodies and has forgotten the “art of drainage”.
• Urban water bodies, such as wetlands, provide crucial services like groundwater recharge (which is helpful during water-scarce summers, the other face of climate change) and flood management.
• Unfortunately, in India, water bodies are rarely recorded under municipal laws.
• Planners see only land, not water, and the builder lobby just encroaches on them.
• A study by the non-profit, Centre for Science and Environment, shows that Chennai, which faced devastating floods in 2015, had 600 water bodies in the 1980s; a master plan published in 2008 said only a fraction of the lakes in the city were in healthy condition.
• The rapid unplanned urbanization has led to chopping down of urban forest areas inducing climate imbalance and effects of local climate regulation.
• Concretized buildings and pavements, high usage of glass in the buildings has led to compounding of heat leading to urban heat islands.
• Poor urban plans result in rising slums in the cities where basic amenities are lacking and are the first to be affected in case of urban floods and famine.
• All these have lead to loss of lives in the urban cities in large scale, economic losses as well.

Challenges in addressing climate change:

• Regional Inequality:
  • The principle of Common but differentiated responsibilities was proposed to tackle climate change by addressing the regional inequality.
  • However, the indifferent behaviour by the developed countries has led to partial success of many global initiatives. Eg. Kyoto Protocol.
• Developed Countries not taking responsibility:
  • Historical emissions and pollution caused due to industrial revolution is not accepted by the industrialized nations.
  • Developed nations are unwilling to accept the responsibility and are moving away from global agreements. Eg. USA rejecting the Paris deal.
• Finance:
  • Huge amount of funds are required for adaptation and mitigation measures to be adopted.
  • For eg: electric mobility, certainly is a green measure, but is actually expensive, in immediate terms, in terms of cost per vehicle kilometre.
  • The cost of shifting into renewable energy is also a fiscal challenge to most countries.
• Technology:
  • Many adaptation and mitigation measures need sophisticated technologies and Research and Development which is an impediment to many developing and small island nations.
  • Commercialization of technology in form of Patents, evergreening has made it unaffordable.
• Increasing use of fossil fuels.
• Complex linkages among emissions, concentrations, climate changes, and impacts.
• Lack of certainty about the details of future climate change.
• Significant time lags in human response systems.
• Risks, judgments about risk, and adaptation needs are highly variable across different contexts.

Way Forward

• Investment in R&D is needed to spur innovations in sustainable climate-friendly and climate-proof productivity, and the private sector can help on this.
• Creation of urban policies which focus on both green cover as well as development of urban areas.
• Micro-forests, urban forests, vertical gardens, roof-top gardens and preservation of green spaces in the urban spaces must be taken up at rapid pace.
• All Indian states must conduct a detailed survey of their water bodies, which can serve as an insurance against floods.
• Strict laws against encroachment of the wetlands in the urban areas must be implemented.
• Involvement of the people in decision making on important issues like infrastructure development leads to unbiased and sustainable decision making.
• A high-density, poly-nodal, public-transport oriented urban pattern that would reduce travel distances and encourage non-motorised travel must find favour with India’s city planners.
• Specific environmental targets must be built into the urban planning process.
• the new Energy Conservation Building Code should be made mandatory.
• Promoting a green growth model and pushing for radical reforms in urban planning should be the norm.

Conclusion:

It is vital that urban and climate change policies synergise at the local body level and a sustainable growth pattern is adopted on priority. Simultaneously, the resilience of cities, particularly of their poor areas, has to be vastly improved so that they can better manage the impact of climate change.