Governance Framework to Mitigate Climate Change: Challenges in Urbanising India

Global warming and climate change (CC) are a global threat to the mankind, which requires determined and collective human efforts. The international community has time and again emphasised that though the causes and impacts of CC are global in scale, the importance of local action for mitigation and adaptation is key (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2009; United Nations (UN) Habitat, 2011). The amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of a society depends not only upon its fossil fuel use, technology and energy intensity, as widely understood, but is deeply rooted in how national and subnational governments moderate or influence personal, societal and civic decision-making. It has been observed that local bodies often lack an understanding of the international CC framework. With more than half of the world urbanised, it is how well the cities govern their jurisdictions in future that will determine the world’s carbon emissions. With high population growth rates, urbanisation and economic development, India, like many other Asian and African countries, faces the challenge of interpreting the international frameworks to mitigate carbon emissions in its urban areas. Though it is well accepted that cities contribute to CC, there is limited empirical based knowledge about the contributions and appropriate models to mitigate GHG emissions (World Bank, 2010; UN Habitat, 2011).