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Pioneering India City Showcases Climate Resilience Strategy to Cope With Climate Change, Offers New Model for Urban Development Planning
The Indian city of Indore is launching its Climate Resilience Strategy, offering insight into climate change challenges and prescriptions
All three Indian cities (Indore, Gorakhpur and Surat) involved in the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network have now completed their climate resilience strategies and are moving ahead with climate change adaptation projects
New climate resilience strategy offers key input as other cities across India consider developing similar blueprints
4 June 2012, Asia – The Indian city of Indore has officially launched its Climate Resilience Strategy (CRS) to help its fast-growing population cope with the growing threat of climate change as part of a project run by the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN), with the support of The Rockefeller Foundation.
The new strategy document offers a blueprint to other cities in India and beyond looking to strengthen their ability to cope with possible climate change impacts and completes the city resilience strategy efforts of all three Indian cities involved in the ACCCRN initiative (Indore, Surat and Gorakhpur).
The 60-page document assesses the scale of vulnerability on key sectors, the risks and challenges likely to be faced by Indore, the most populated city in the centrally located state of Madhya Pradesh, due to
possible climate change impacts and suggests adaptation and interventions to address related issues.
“Indore, Surat and Gorakhpur are among the first generation cities in India to have gone through a detailed process towards formulating a strategy and to identify possible options for mainstreaming climate change adaptation in development efforts,” said Anup Karanth, Director at TARU Leading Edge Consultancy, a partner organization working on the ACCCRN project.
“This latest document will offer a model as discussions proceed over developing city resilience strategies in other cities in India and as the national government considers ways to build sustainable cities,” he said.
Completion of climate resilience strategies by the three cities in India involved in ACCCRN marks a milestone in efforts to pilot novel approaches to climate change adaptation in the country.
Efforts by ACCCRN to replicate city resilience strategies elsewhere in India are already underway.
As part of the ACCCRN initiative, the South Asia and Oceania offices of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability are currently working on climate resilience strategies for three additional cities facing rapid population growth: Shimla in northern India, Bhubaneswar in eastern India and Mysore in the south of the country.
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Drawing upon a variety of studies and assessments undertaken over the past two years, and with the backing of municipal leaders, ACCCRN is now implementing a range of concrete projects in Indore, Surat and Gorakhpur in areas spanning urban monitoring systems reliant on mobile phone technology, farming and early warning systems to cope with potential flooding.
As urban populations soar from 50 percent of the world’s population now to 70 percent by 2050, ACCCRN is implementing a wide range of solutions in 10 cities in Indonesia, India, Thailand and Vietnam to help local populations adapt to changing weather patterns in a way that protects the most vulnerable communities and the urban poor.
Cities in the other three ACCCRN countries (Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam) have also worked on customized city resilience strategies.
Indore is the most populated city in the centrally located state of Madhya Pradesh, and the population is expected to grow to approximately 3.3 million by 2030. Indore is a trading center, and on account of its strategic location serves as a hub of trade and commerce for the whole of western India. The city also sees significant business from various industries, including the textile industry, but these businesses are
increasingly concerned about water and power resources in the area. There is a high rate of migration into the city of mostly laborers and students. Being located near the watershed boundary between the Narmada and Chambal Rivers, the local water resources are no longer able to support the growing demands of the city. The water supply is intermittent and faces acute water shortages during summers. Water quality is also a major issue for the city as studies indicate that 70 percent of the tube wells in Indore are contaminated.
About ACCCRN
ACCCRN – a network of cities in India, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam – was launched in January 2009 and is funded by the Rockefeller Foundation as part of a US$70 million, 5-year climate change resilience initiative. The objective is to help selected cities develop climate change risk and vulnerability strategies that will be followed by the development of a range of resilience-building interventions such as climate-resilient housing and more effective water management. ACCCRN involves 18 partner organizations including ICCCAD, the latest entity to join the Network.
To view the newly launched Indore climate resilience strategy document, please go to:
http://acccrn.org/sites/default/files/documents/Indore%20CRS%20TARU%20India%2001062012.pdf
To view the climate resilience strategy document for Surat and Gorakhpur, please go to:
http://acccrn.org/sites/default/files/documents/SuratCityResilienceStrategy_ACCCRN_01Apr2011_small_0.pdfh ttp://acccrn.org/sites/default/files/documents/GorakhpurCityResilienceStrategy_ACCCRN_Jan2011_small_0.pdf
For more information on ACCCRN initiatives, please go to: http://www.acccrn.org/
For more information on the ACCCRN cities of Gorakhpur, Indore and Surat in India please go to: http://www.acccrn.org/what-we-do/city-initiatives
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About The Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation’s mission to promote the well-being of people throughout the world has remained unchanged since its founding in 1913. Today, that mission is applied to an era of rapid globalization. Our vision is that this century will be one in which globalization’s benefits are more widely shared and its challenges are more easily weathered. To realize this vision, the Foundation seeks to achieve two fundamental goals in our work. First, we seek to build resilience that enhances individual, community and institutional capacity to survive, adapt, and grow in the face of acute crises and chronic stresses. Second, we seek to promote growth with equity in which the poor and vulnerable have more access to opportunities that improve their lives. In order to achieve these goals, the Foundation constructs its work into time-bound initiatives that have defined objectives and strategies for impact. These initiatives address challenges that lie either within or at the intersections of five issue areas: basic survival safeguards, global health, environment and climate change, urbanization, and social and economic security.
Contacts:
APCO Worldwide
Tamora Leonard Kitty Potter
