A 12 months in the past, on an unusually heat November morning, Freedom Park in Bengaluru was abuzz with guests gathered round a number of massive posters. The posters introduced that Bengaluru’s high management will likely be launching town’s first-ever local weather motion plan. With local weather fanatics, civil society members, authorities representatives and college students in attendance, the occasions at Freedom Park obtained the ball rolling on the implementation of this local weather motion plan.
November 27, 2024 marks one 12 months because the launch of Bengaluru’s first-ever Local weather Motion and Resilience Plan (BCAP). The day additionally marks the rollout of the #BluGreenUru marketing campaign – a name to collaborate on conserving, restoring and integrating town’s pure infrastructure – to reinforce resilience towards local weather change. With the discharge of the BCAP summary document, Bengaluru turned the third metropolis in India, after Mumbai and Chennai, to have a global standard climate action plan.
So, The place Did it All Start?
The general public launch of BCAP was an necessary milestone, going down two years after Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) formally began the BCAP preparation course of, with WRI India as a information associate. After a number of critiques and formal approvals, the primary draft was created in March 2023. Then got here the problem of guaranteeing that BCAP doesn’t stay only a scientifically vetted report and is applied consistent with the expectations of varied stakeholders.
Bengaluru’s local weather motion plan preparation was strongly evidence-based, with the appliance of novel datasets, sturdy methodologies and analytics. It was additionally consultative, involving over 25 stakeholder departments, civil society, academia and the ward-level civic employees that offers with the day-to-day on-ground challenges. By way of BCAP, town ready its first-ever greenhouse gasoline (GHG) emissions stock and assessed prevailing local weather dangers and vulnerabilities. These led to the formulation of 266 actions, anchored with departments working throughout the seven recognized sectors.
What has Occurred Over the Final Yr?
A Climate Action Cell(CAC) was instituted by BBMP in February 2024. The CAC is remitted to anchor the implementation of BCAP as a multi-stakeholder-driven collaborative course of. It’s headed by the Particular Commissioner of the Forest, Setting, Local weather Change (FECC) wing of BBMP and members embrace representatives from stakeholder departments.
In its formative days, CAC launched into brainstorming and stocktaking periods with information companions and stakeholder departments to border a principle of change. This fine-tuned the understanding of its main function as an enabler and a facilitator, and partial function as a doer. The following few months noticed the rollout of numerous initiatives, together with just a few gamechangers, such because the Local weather Motion Fellows Program, Buddies of CAC platform, a Mapathon, and digital dissemination and outreach. Across the identical time, Bengaluru turned the fourth Indian city to join the Cities4Forests global alliance of more than 95 cities, with WRI India because the information associate.
Some Beneficial properties, Some Challenges
The institutional framework of Bengaluru differs from cities like Mumbai, the place most sectors are throughout the municipal company’s authority. Bengaluru is house to many energetic civil society organizations, NGOs and analysis organizations which work for town’s betterment. Therefore, one of many largest beneficial properties within the final 12 months has been the creation of platforms and channels for collaboration and cross-learning to nudge local weather motion discourse at completely different ranges. The rising variety of local weather motion allies is an early signal of success. Most significantly, the CAC is now main discussions on intersectional vulnerability vis-a-vis local weather danger, which was earlier confined to the fringes. Moreover, the Fellows’ program is motivating a era of local weather stewards, bridging a part of the capability hole, notably for localized local weather motion.
This has resulted from a ten-month-long steady means of brainstorming, participating, studying, doing, reflecting and re-doing. The method comes with challenges. For instance, Bengaluru has an outdated masterplan and thus lacks a statutory device to information its development. Guaranteeing the involvement of the management of stakeholder departments has been a problem that impacts monitoring, analysis and reporting of the progress of BCAP actions and its general coordination. Metropolis companies lack core capacities in local weather motion and with out everlasting positions, your entire program might endure in the long term. CAC doesn’t but have sufficient energy to affect main coverage and funding choices.
The Means Forward
Initiating local weather budgeting for BBMP and key stakeholder departments might help determine gaps and align each private and non-private local weather funding, together with Company Social Duty (CSR) and philanthropic investments.
Sturdy Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting (MER) protocols and designing Key Efficiency Indicators (KPIs) are wanted to make sure stakeholder accountability, together with inside BBMP departments.
Integrating Bengaluru’s legacy blue-green networks into metropolis infrastructure can construct local weather adaptation capability and result in resilience outcomes by nature-based options.
The power and constructing sector contribute 68% of town’s GHG emissions. Whereas the power provide is managed by a number of components, specializing in the constructing sector presents a tangible alternative for native motion.
Lastly, appointing a chief local weather officer on the metropolis municipality and investing them with acceptable powers might help drive BCAP implementation, with reciprocal preparations in stakeholder departments.
Collectively, these steps can develop into significant devices for charting an inclusive local weather motion pathway for Bengaluru and be certain that the bottom gained within the final 12 months by BCAP can proceed to develop.
Know extra concerning the BCAP framework, together with solutions to generally requested questions on its genesis, scope, implementation, funding, and extra within the authors’ earlier weblog, 10 Facts to Better Understand the Bengaluru Climate Action and Resilience Plan.
