Indian cities get ready to tackle climate change

9 September 2009, Chennai, India

Acknowledging the crucial role of cities and local governments in confronting the challenge of climate change as being closest to the local communities, the city government of Chennai, India, volunteered to ICLEI to mitigate the impact of climate change and to prepare a roadmap for its fight against global warming.

"In the wake of climatic change, Chennai, a coastal city, will face disastrous effects", stated the British High Commissioner to India, Richard Stagg. "And developed economies that have supplied the bulk of problems will have to give the bulk of solutions".

Chennai is joining the cities to be "mapped" under the Roadmap of South Asian Cities and Local Governments for the post-2012 global climate agreement and actions project which is supported by the British High Commission. Within this project, ICLEI has completed a detailed energy and carbon emission inventory for 52 cities in South Asia (thereof 42 in India), specifying the sectors where the respective municipal corporations can take the lead. The inventories help to understand city-level energy consumption patterns, emission trends and help build capacity of city stakeholders like businesses, academia, research, local government and civil society to jointly develop a low carbon action plan.

"It concerns issues of management of solid waste, of using energy more efficiently so that supply meets demand, and of managing water so that people's livelihoods are met," said Fergus Auld, First Secretary, Climate Change, UK. "We will be selecting representatives from each city, who will take part in the convention at Copenhagen to discuss regional and international issues around climate change".

In June this year, cities in south India had come together to sign Mysore Call, which acknowledged the crucial role of cities and local governments in confronting the challenge of climate change.

Chennai's announcement evoked a large media response, leading to various other articles: