The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will be setting up a climate action cell (CAC) to facilitate effective implementation of the Bengaluru Climate Action and Resilience Plan (BCAP). The civic body will be allocating necessary staff and resources to run the centre.
This was said by the BBMP after launching the BCAP report on Monday. The report has identified priority sectors for action orientation to reduce emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) in accordance with the Paris agreement.
About 269 different actions have been planned to mitigate climate change in the city, of which the BBMP will be responsible for executing 143.
Bengaluru is a co-lead of the Global Air Quality Network for the C40 cities global network. The other cities which are part of the network are Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, and Ahmedabad.
As part of the signatory of the C40 cities, the commitment from the cities is to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. For the same, the World Resource Institute (WRI) was appointed as global consultant to prepare the BCAP for 2050.
The WRI in Bengaluru consulted 25 different stakeholders including the BBMP, Bescom, BMTC, BMRCL, BWSSB, the Transport Department, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, the State Disaster Management, Bangalore Development Authority, and others.
According to excerpts from the report, the climate and environmental hazards identified are urban flooding, urban heat, drought, thunderstorms and lightning, and air pollution.
The report said: “Bengaluru experiences two major climate extremities, rainfall and air temperature. This manifests into different climatic hazards. In addition, air pollution, an associated anthropologic environmental hazard, is impacting residents’ health and productivity.”
The task of the BBMP’s CAC is to work towards reducing the GHG emissions by 16% before 2030, 26% by 2040, and 56% by 2050. This is compared to the 2019 baseline.
As per the 2019 baseline, Bengaluru’s carbon footprint was estimated at 18.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), which works to around 1.8 tonnes of CO2e per person.
About 68% GHG is emitted by stationary energy, 21% by transportation, and 11% by waste.
The pathway scenario and climate change risk vulnerability assessment done under the BCAP establishes an evidence base on which the city can set its mitigation, adaptation and resilience targets.
Over time, the BBMP CAC will be focusing on rainwater harvesting, planting of ecologically suitable native species, improved segregation of waste, encouraging use of public transport, encouraging switch to electric vehicles, installation of solar power systems, encouraging switch to energy-efficient appliances and low-flow fixtures, reduction in consumption, reuse and recycle.
