Accelerating climate action through the promotion of Urban Low Emission Development Strategies project.

Project Objective

Contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by the promotion of Urban Low Emission Development Strategies (Urban LEDS) in cities / towns in emerging economies (Brazil, Colombia, India, Indonesia and South Africa), and Least Developed Countries (Bangladesh, Lao PDR and Rwanda).

To implement the Nationally determined contributions (NDCs), the Government of India has created a National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). Currently, the decision-making process is top-down directed, but to successfully achieve the goals of the action plan on a local level, more involvement of states and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) is required. This project focuses on three aspects of vertical integration for multi-governance framework: (i) localization of national policies, (ii) monitoring, reporting and verification systems for data collection, and (iii) climate finance.

Enabling framework #1: National policies and strategies

India’s NDC is anchored upon a strong existing policy framework. Policies such as the National Environment Policy (NEP) 2006, the National Action Plan on Climate Change (2008), the Energy Conservation Act (2001), the National Electricity Policy (2005), the Integrated Energy Policy (2016) and the National Policy for Farmers (2007) are welded to the Constitutional framework and support the NDC objectives. National policy directives are implemented through joint efforts at central, state and local urban administrations. The NAPCC designates national missions that outline the priorities for mitigation and adaptation to climate change and set agenda for states to mainstream climate change concerns in the planning processes.

Enabling framework #2: Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV)

MRV systems are useful to estimate emissions and to measure the performance of projects and possible improvements. However, the current MRV framework is not efficient, and governments and Urban Local Bodies are failing to utilise its potentials. India implements a large number of programmes and policies in energy, transport, industry, agriculture and forest sectors, which also contribute to GHG mitigation. By design, these programmes involve parameter based systematic monitoring, evaluation and reporting of concerned parameters, however not all have GHG mitigation identified as a parameter to measure and report. There is a need for a streamlined MRV mechanism that tracks and reports all the data pertaining to GHG emissions from the urban contributors.

Enabling framework #3: Financing the climate transition

The economic survey of India estimates that more than USD 38 billion are needed to fund the implementation of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC, 2018). Climate Finance in India comes from multiple sources including national (domestic budgets and private funds) and international (multilateral and bilateral aid agencies, and multinational private firms). The main national funds include the National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF), the Climate Change Action Programme (CCAP), the National Adaptation Fund on Climate Change (NAFCC) and the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). Urban Local Bodies need to be financially independent for implementation of climate projects by increasing their capacity to access climate financing.