A senior Kolkata Municipal Corporation official, in two key meetings held during the just concluded COP 29 at Baku (Azerbaijan), has highlighted the city’s priority to address the increasing risk of climate change in its impending climate action plan in tandem with air pollution.
While the first meeting was organised by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) — the UN entity responsible for sustainable urbanisation — the second one was organised by Climate Action Network South Asia (CANSA), a civil society platform with nearly 300 non-government organisations from across south Asia. Officials from various countries, including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Jordan, Madagascar as well as those from several non-profits, took part in the meetings.
Debasish Kumar, a member of the KMC mayoral council as well as a member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, represented Kolkata in the meetings and pointed out that the city, despite the state government’s all-out effort to counter climate change and air pollution, needs financial and technical support from outside, including international agencies to counter the menace.
“We are trying our best but we need support. The latest UN report, the IPCC AR 6 report, has clearly pointed out that Kolkata is one of the most climate-vulnerable cities in the world, despite contributing significantly less to the global carbon cauldron. I, representing the city council, tried to raise the issue in the meeting and have received a good response,” Kumar told this correspondent at Baku.
The IPCC report has pointed out that Kolkata has witnessed the sharpest rise in average temperature from 1958 to 2018 within select global cities and regions studied.
“Ours is the first major city in Asia to undertake an anti-fossil fuel pledge, and subsequently, is now working on its climate action plan of Kolkata through an expert committee with nationally frontline sector specific experts across India; which is expected to be finalised soon,” Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim told this correspondent.
Urban poor at risk
The issue of high risk the urban poor face from climate change-triggered extreme weather events was highlighted in the meetings by Kolkata taking inputs from the ongoing Kolkata Climate Action Plan.
“I would like to focus on two issues, which we feel, are very important. First, is finance. We want to do financial scoping and are trying to engage with experts for the same. We bank on international agencies for the support through appropriate protocol. Secondly, we really want to make the climate plan friendly with all sections of the society, particularly the vulnerable part of the society, the slum population, who are most at risk in all senses,” said Kumar in a meeting where this correspondent was present.
Debasish Kumar speaking in CANSA meeting
“As a matter of fact, out of Kolkata’s 5 million population, about one-third live in slums. The figures that we have collected show that nearly 70 per cent of the slums are significantly affected by rising heat. We have a study report that shows that 47 per cent wards in Kolkata are highly to moderately vulnerable to heat,” said the official.
Kolkata’s presentation reminded all that being close to the Sunderbans and the Bay of Bengal - one of the most vulnerable global hotspots of climate change with repeated cyclone episodes and very high sea level rise - further increases the city’s vulnerability.
The Kolkata view, expressed at Baku, was accepted favourably by the officials present in the meeting.
“Providing resilience to socio-economically challenged people, an issue flagged off by the Kolkata official, is a key area of priority with respect to urbanisation and climate change, and we look forward to work with Kolkata on the issue,” said Cerin Kizhakkethottam, a senior UN Habitat official.
“We are already working with Kolkata on climatic issues and are committed to supporting it in its future way forward,” CANSA director Sanjay Vashist told this correspondent in Baku.
Air pollution piggybacks city’s climate threat
“We are trying to link all the 14 considered parameters related to climate change including air pollution to come up with a unified strategy,” said Kumar in the meetings. The plan also has components such as energy, transport, drainage and flooding, health, disaster risk reduction, industry and likewise; and is set to be finalised after a series of stakeholder meetings on the agenda.
Incidentally, air pollution has cornered significant attention in the just concluded climate summit. “In COP 29 this time, the challenge of urban emission in cities, and Kolkata is definitely part of that, have found explicit mention with detailed strategies in the text of the Mitigation Work Programme that got negotiated here as 70 per cent of the global greenhouse gas emissions happen in the cities,” said Anumita Roy Choudhury, an air pollution expert associated with environment think tank Centre for Science and Environment; in Baku.
The expert pointed out the need to address “spatial planning, green and blue infrastructure, buildings, electrification and net zero resources to decarbonise cities like Kolkata”.
Cities like Kolkata have been projected to face the double impact of air pollution and climate change; which often act in tandem. According to experts, the black carbon linked with air pollutants, particularly ultrafine particulates, contribute to climate change by increasing the city’s global warming potential.
Incidentally Kolkata’s ultrafine particulate, PM 2.5, concentration is only second to Delhi overall among the major metropolises of the country.