Urban Journalism Academy (World Urban Forum 9) January 18, 2018 Cities and Climate Change Resilience Urban Journalism Academy (World Urban Forum 9) January 18, 2018 Raina Singh Fellow and Area Convenor, Centre for Urban Planning and Governance, TERI

Climate Change – Affecting Communities and Infrastructure Climate related Disasters costed an estimated 370 billon USD globally in 2011 (80 % of this was in Asia alone) Typhoon Haiyan (2013, The Philippines) – 10 bn USD Floods in Northern UK (2015) – 5 bn USD Hurricane Irma (2017, US) > 100 bn USD Cyclone Hud hud (2014, India) > 2 bn USD Associated social costs - Vulnerable groups are the most affected Climate change is an emerging global phenomenon, but particularly it is the development of cities that is being given priority in the lens of climate change. Urban poor by virtue of their financial status and residing in hazardous and low lying locations, are one of the most vulnerable sections of the society.

Cities and climate risk – Why does it matter? Urban areas are concentration of large population, economies, infrastructure: central to growth of the nation or the region Over 50% of India’s GDP is derived from cities - Climate change impacts can wipe out development gains and significantly reduce quality of life Focused investments in urban areas – Smart Cities, AMRUT - More than 70% of India’s infrastructure is yet to be built Climate change is an emerging global phenomenon, but particularly it is the development of cities that is being given priority in the lens of climate change. Urban poor by virtue of their financial status and residing in hazardous and low lying locations, are one of the most vulnerable sections of the society.

Sea Level Rise & Storm Surges Climate change impacts pose additional pressures on cities Floods Cyclones Water Scarcity Heat Waves Sea Level Rise & Storm Surges These existing pressures are further compounded due to impacts of climate change

Recent calamities have drawn attention towards the fact that development goals of cities are seriously undermined by climate change impacts Mumbai Floods Hudhud cyclone, Vizag Chennai Floods Building climate resilience is one option which offers holistic mechanisms to address climate variability and change without compromising on present development challenges.

Building Resilient Cities Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, Resilient and sustainable Prepare the cities to withstand climate change related gradual impacts like change in precipitation, temperature and sea level rise Equip the city equally to respond to disasters and extreme events Drive the city towards sustainable development encompassing environmental benefits

Climate resilience is not about development in new way…. ….it is about adding climate variability and change considerations in the planning and development framework to ensure long term sustainability and preparedness to climate change

Urban Flood Management Causes Solutions Increase in extreme rainfall events Expanding impervious urban land cover Storm water management engineered to meet past rainfall scenario Poor maintenance of existing structures/Poor water and sewage management Encroachment of river beds and wetlands Green and open spaces Pervious surfaces Reducing impervious surfaces Maintenance of drains and infrastructure Replacing old and aging infrastrcutre Replacing old infrastructure

Climate Risk Management – Key Challenges and Enablers Policy and mandate at national and state level Integration of climate agenda with city development agenda Institutionalization of urban climate resilience planning. Local expertise to generate context specific locally driven solutions Capacity building and awareness generation to generate momentum and facilitate action at all levels Access to knowledge on climate variability and change Data management and updating to facilitate decision making So for building urban resilience, inputs are needed from the science, policy and capital. And to do so there is a need for capacity building and sharing of knowledge Source: www.ceres.org

TERI’s interventions for promoting climate resilient cities Climate Resilience Planning Policy Research on mainstreaming climate resilience Training and capacity building Knowledge creation and dissemination Climate resilience strategy was prepared for the city of Guwahati, Assam as part of the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) USAID supported study focusing on the impact of sea level rise on infrastructure and services was conducted in two Indian cities- Panaji and Visakhapatnam Capacity building programs on urban climate resilience in 4 states in India supported by the Asia Pacific Network State level policy research and engagement on urban climate resilience in two States

Media sensitization and outreach Media Sensitization Workshop for Vernacular Media Multimedia-based Free Knowledge Resources Social Media Engagement

Thank you! Raina Singh Fellow, Centre for Urban Planning and Governnace, TERI raina.singh@teri.res.in http://www.teriin.org/resilient-cities/