Climate action in Indian cities: an emerging new research area

Beermann, Jan; Damodaran, A.; Jørgensen, Kirsten S.; Schreurs, Miranda A.

doi:10.1080/1943815x.2015.1130723

Cited by 22 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 38 publications

(28 reference statements)

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“…This resulted in adaptation efforts which were easier to motivate as their benefits accrue locally, compared with the more dispersed benefits of GHG mitigation (Sharma and Tomar 2010). Early climate adaptation efforts in India were primarily dominated by two international networks: Rockefeller Foundation's Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN); and the UN-sponsored ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability (Beermann et al 2016;Fisher 2014;Hackenbroch and Woiwode 2016). The focus of these networks differed geographically, depending on local climate vulnerabilities and risks and related infrastructure deficits (Joerin et al 2014;Sharma, Singh, and Singh 2014;Yenneti et al 2016).…”

Section: Evolution Of Urban India's Climate Responsesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban India and Climate Change

Khosla¹,

Bhardwaj²

2019

India in a Warming World

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India will undergo immense urbanization in the coming decades, doubling its urban population by 2050. This transformation is unique as it will come at the time when the impacts of, as well as the global momentum to respond to, climate change heighten. India’s urban transformation will, therefore, have deep implications for not only local welfare and environmental conditions but also for climate mitigation and climate adaptation. As most of urban India is yet to be built, India has a unique opportunity to lock-in low-carbon, resilient, and equitable urban forms for the long term. This chapter discusses the evolution of India’s urban climate actions, from addressing climate risks to, more recently, mitigation, while also exploring the governance characteristics of these actions. These actions, while nascent, provide an indication that the future trajectory of urban responses to climate change will be shaped by how local development and climate goals will be linked and prioritized.

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Section: Evolution Of Urban India's Climate Responsesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban India and Climate Change

Khosla¹,

Bhardwaj²

2019

India in a Warming World

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“…Conceptually, too, it was easier to motivate adaptation actions as their benefits accrue locally, compared with the more complicated politics around the nonlocal beneficiaries of GHG mitigation (Dubash, ; Sharma & Tomar, ). The early adaptation efforts in urban India were pioneered by two international networks, the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) and ICLEI—Local Governments for Sustainability (Beermann, Damodaran, Jörgensen, & Schreurs, ; Fisher, ; Hackenbroch & Woiwode, ; Hickmann, Fuhr, Höhne, Lederer, & Stehle, ; Rajasekar, Bhat, & Karanth, ). Actions pursued for adaptation and resilience differed geographically, depending on local vulnerabilities and risks, and related infrastructure deficits (Dhyani, Lahoti, Khare, Pujari, & Verma, ; International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives‐South Asia, ; Joerin, Shaw, Takeuchi, & Krishnamurthy, ; Sharma, Singh, & Singh, ; United Nations Development Program, ; Yenneti et al, ).…”

Section: Evolution Of India's Urban Climate Responsesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The global literature demonstrates that cities develop innovative climate approaches acting upon alignments between mitigation and adaptation, environment and development, government functions (Satterthwaite, ) and political coalitions (Bulkeley, ; Castán Broto, ; E. Chu et al, ). In India, the modus operandi of city climate actions, adaptation or mitigation, has been the linking of climate change with immediate and local development needs (Aggarwal, ; Beermann et al, ; E. Chu, ; E. K. Chu, ; Colenbrander et al, ; Cook & Chu, ; Sethi & Mohapatra, ; Sharma & Tomar, ). Such a linking of climate change with local development objectives has a legacy in India's national climate politics with the language of “co‐benefits” formally enshrined in the National Action Plan on Climate Change (Dubash, ; Government of India, ).…”

Section: Characteristics Of Indian Cities' Climate Responsesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urbanization in the time of climate change: Examining the response of Indian cities

Khosla

Bhardwaj

2018

WIREs Climate Change

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India's urban transition is salient to the growing emphasis on city responses to climate change. While projected to experience the largest global urban transition with significant infrastructure investment in the next few decades, the welfare of Indian cities remains poor, which complicates the implications for climate change mitigation and adaptation. This paper traces, synthesizes and characterizes the emerging literature on Indian urban climate debates. It discusses the arc of urban climate efforts, from an initial emphasis on climate vulnerabilities and risks, broadening over time to include climate mitigation. The paper examines the governance forms and political motivations with which such actions are pursued in cities and finds three overarching characteristics: the use of local development priorities as an entry point to climate mitigation and adaptation; the role of nonstate actors in promoting climate-relevant outcomes; and the proclivity for discrete project-based activities. The paper suggests that while a range of Indian cities are beginning to consider climate concerns, a larger strategic understanding of the interaction between climate and development priorities, across policy and governance levels, is yet to be developed. The future trajectory of urban India's responses to climate change will be shaped by the institutional prioritising, linking and integrating of urgent local development and mitigation and adaptation goals.This article is categorized under:

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“…The 2005/06 National Urban Renewal Mission aimed to address these deficiencies by providing funding to cities and advancing the devolution of powers. By 2012, however, 14 out of 37 states had failed to deliver the respective results, leaving cities with little room to independently enact urban (climate) actions (Beermann, Damodaran, Jörgensen, & Schreurs, ; Nandi & Gamkhar, ).…”

Section: Carbon Governance Arrangements In Developing Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By 2012, however, 14 out of 37 states had failed to deliver the respective results, leaving cities with little room to independently enact urban (climate) actions (Beermann, Damodaran, Jörgensen, & Schreurs, 2016;Nandi & Gamkhar, 2013…”

Section: India's Urban Climate Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon Governance Arrangements and the Nation‐State: The Reconfiguration of Public Authority in Developing Countries

Hickmann

Fuhr

Höhne

et al. 2017

Public Admin & Development

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Summary Several scholars concerned with global policy‐making have recently pointed to a reconfiguration of authority in the area of climate politics. They have shown that various new carbon governance arrangements have emerged, which operate simultaneously at different governmental levels. However, despite the numerous descriptions and mapping exercises of these governance arrangements, we have little systematic knowledge on their workings within national jurisdictions, let alone about their impact on public‐administrative systems in developing countries. Therefore, this article opens the “black box” of the nation‐state and explores how and to what extent two different arrangements, that is, Transnational City Networks and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, generate changes in the distribution of public authority in nation‐states and their administrations. Building upon conceptual assumptions that the former is likely to lead to more decentralized, and the latter to more centralized policy‐making, we provide insights from case studies in Indonesia, South Africa, Brazil, and India. In a nutshell, our analysis underscores that Transnational City Networks strengthen climate‐related actions taken by cities without ultimately decentralizing climate policy‐making. On the other hand, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation tends to reinforce the competencies of central governments, but apparently does not generate a recentralization of the forestry sector at large.

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Climate action in Indian cities: an emerging new research area

Cited by 22 publications

References 38 publications

Urban India and Climate Change

Urban India and Climate Change

Urbanization in the time of climate change: Examining the response of Indian cities

Carbon Governance Arrangements and the Nation‐State: The Reconfiguration of Public Authority in Developing Countries

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