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The Mumbai Climate Action Plan (MCAP) released Sunday has laid down a 30-year roadmap for the city to tackle the challenges of climate change by adopting inclusive and robust mitigation and adaptation strategies. The action plan has set short-, medium- and long-term climate goals aimed towards zero emission of greenhouse gas or a net-zero target for 2050. It has been said that actions must be taken on priority across six strategic areas—sustainable waste management, urban greening and biodiversity, urban flooding and water resource management, energy and buildings, air quality and sustainable mobility.
After a vulnerability assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) and natural green cover inventory over the last six months, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) prepared the plan with technical support from the World Resources Institute (WRI), India and the C40 Cities network. The first chapter of the 240-page document concentrates on the city, its ecological, cultural and economical landscapes. Secondly, the plan throws light on the current climate of the city called Baseline assessment—climate and air pollution risks, greenhouse gas inventory.
The plan then assesses future trajectories in the business-as-usual scenarios and assesses future emission reduction scenarios to make Mumbai net-zero by 2050. The chapter ahead then lists down Sectoral Priorities and Plans, including ongoing initiatives in the departments, gaps, short-, and long-term action points. The final chapter of the plan deals with the road map to achieve the set targets.
As per a study conducted by WRI India on Mumbai’s vulnerability assessment, the city will face two major challenges—temperature rise, and extreme rain events which will lead to flooding. As per the vulnerability assessment of greenhouse gas and natural green cover, the city has witnessed a warming trend. The analysis has revealed a warming trend over 47 years (1973-2020) with an increase of 0.25°C per decade for the city.
A ward-level analysis of heat exposure indicates that 40 per cent of the population residing in the M-East ward—one of the most populated areas in the city, covering Deonar, Govandi and housing one of the largest landfills in the state capital—is exposed to heat stress as opposed to 0.9 per cent of residents of A Ward. Heat stress is when the body’s internal mechanism to control heat fails and the core temperature rises, increasing the heart rate.
Mumbai’s climate action plan has set a vision and strategies to fight these climate challenges with mitigation and adaptation steps.
In 2019, which is taken as a base year, Mumbai’s GHG emissions were 23.42 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emission, which is 1.8 tonnes CO2e per person. Out of which, 16.9 million tonnes or 72 per cent is from the energy sector, followed by 4.56 million tonnes of CO2 e or 20 per cent from the transportation sector. The city’s waste sector contributes to a total of eight per cent of the total emissions. Most of the city’s emissions come from energy use in residential buildings followed by commercial buildings and transport. Electricity consumption contributes significantly to total emissions (64.3%), due to the city’s predominantly coal-based grid.
While the MCAP lays down the road map of the 30-year its success and implementation will depend on the Mumbai civic body. The BMC has committed to strengthening its existing environment department, updating greenhouse gas emissions inventory and climate and air pollution risks and vulnerability assessment every two years and reviewing and revising the plan every five years. For its successful implementation combined with financial support, BMC’s Climate Action Cell will be part of a year-long capacity building and knowledge sharing program with C40 and the City of Oslo to develop its Climate Budget.
While the BMC operates across city provisions, there are limitations to the capacities of the corporation when it comes to sectors like energy, regional transport, air quality and forest and mangrove conservation and restoration. Addressing these issues sectoral and cross-departmental collaboration is also stressed in the report.
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