Delhi Sets Climate Goals for 7 Sectors

The Delhi government has come out with a draft of its new State Action Plan on Climate Change. It charts a detailed strategy for combating the climate emergency in the national capital. According to Environment Minister Gopal Rai, the plan puts forward the pressing requirement for the city to adapt to extreme weather events, which are happening more frequently. The draft SAPCC, in the works for over two years now, has identified seven thematic areas: energy, urban planning, water management, forest and green cover, transport, agriculture, and health. Some of the critical proposals include installing rooftop solar panels to generate 750 MW of solar power, changing all streetlights to LEDs by 2030, and deploying low-cost sensors for flood warnings. These were drawn up after consultations with a high-level committee comprising 40 government departments, agencies and institutions of experts. Delhi's previous SAPCC was implemented in the year 2019 and was based on data collected up until 2011. The new draft plan incorporates updated findings, and is likely to be sent to the Central government for approval in two weeks. Implementation will begin once the plan gets the green light. An assessment included in the draft picks out the northeast, east, and south Delhi districts as particularly vulnerable to the climate crisis. The city has already been hit by acute weather this year – the first five months were the driest since 2018 – before intense heatwaves took hold in May and June. Then the monsoon season brought record rainfall, with Delhi receiving 228.1mm on 28 June, the highest single-day total since 1936. The draft plan, prepared in association with the German Technical Cooperation Group, GIZ, and institutions like IIT Delhi and GGSIPU, moots major infrastructural changes. They include underground power infrastructure, 100 percent waste segregation by the end of the year, enhanced capacity of waste-to-energy, climate-resilient buildings, and the expansion of Delhi's Ridge and forest areas through eco-restoration. It also aims at reducing private vehicle use by developing an enhanced public transport facility within the city. The Delhi government's plan is in response to the ever-growing urgency towards tackling climate change through urgent and continuous action. The proper mobilization of resources and funds for the effective implementation of SAPCC is quite significant in reducing the impacts of future climate events over Delhi. Source: Draft State Action Plan on Climate Change by the Delhi Government.