Bengaluru civic body's climate action plan aims to achieve net-zero by 2050

Bengaluru has been preparing a data-driven, inclusive and collaborative climate action plan with a focus on building healthy, equitable and resilient communities

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Monday launched the Bengaluru Climate Action and Resilience Plan (BCAP) with an eye to achieving net-zero by 2050 to create a roadmap for a safer, healthier and more equitable city.

With this initiative, the city's civic body said it plans to make Bengaluru one of the few cities in the world, and the third city in India, to have a global standard climate action plan.

As part of the city's C40 cities commitment, Bengaluru has been preparing a data-driven, inclusive and collaborative climate action plan with a focus on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and building healthy, equitable and resilient communities.

C40 is a global network of nearly 100 Mayors of the world's leading cities that are united in action to confront the climate crisis.

As a part of the launch, BBMP has also announced two priority initiatives that will be taken up immediately including creation of a Climate Action Cell at BBMP to facilitate efficient implementation of the BCAP.

Dedicated staff and resources will be allocated for this. The Climate action cell will work with all other stakeholder agencies, it said.

The civic body would also be launching a campaign #BluGreenUru -- a call for action by each and every citizen and stakeholders of Bengaluru to participate, contribute and collaborate in conserving, restoring and integrating the city's natural infrastructure to enhance Bengaluru's resilience against climate change.

According to BBMP officials, the BCAP, prepared by BBMP and the Karnataka government in collaboration with C40 Cities and research organisation WRI India as knowledge partner, also takes into consideration in-depth consultations with all stakeholder groups including Bengaluru's different government departments, practitioners, civil society members and community-based organisations.

Balancing the amount of GHG emissions that is produced and the amount that is removed from the atmosphere is referred to as net-zero and, Bengaluru, as part of the C40 network of nearly 100 world-leading cities, is working to deliver the urgent action needed to confront the climate crisis. This is particularly significant in the backdrop of the upcoming Conference of Parties (COP28) as Bengaluru endeavours to make Bengaluru more climate resilient especially for the vulnerable, the civic body said.

The BCAP also marks the preparation of the city's first-ever GHG inventory analysing all the major sectors and sources that emit GHGs into the atmosphere ("as per the GPC reporting framework BASIC level"). This inventory will allow Bengaluru to build evidence-based mitigation strategies and policies, and to measure progress on the actions taken, the BBMP said.

The pathways scenario, under the BCAP, establishes evidence based on which Bengaluru can set its mitigation (potential to reduce GHG emissions) targets, it said.

A Climate Change Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (CCRAVA) was done to understand Bengaluru's major climate risks and hence the key areas of focus under adaptation and resilience (capability to absorb shocks from climate hazards). The actions are aligned to seven major sectors energy and buildings, transportation, solid waste management, water, wastewater and storm water, air quality, urban planning, greening and biodiversity, and disaster and management, the civic body added.

In addition to the BCAP summary report, a BCAP full report and a supporting Climate CCRAVA for Bengaluru will also be shortly published on the BBMP website. These reports will give a deeper understanding of the assessments done which led to identification of actions, it was stated.