Maharashtra has set its target to become a Net Zero State. Mumbai’s commitment to Net Zero by 2050 and the Mumbai Climate Action Plan 2022 are steps in this direction, which are followed by similar initiatives across the State. Despite the measures in place, it is necessary to identify the potential opportunities for intervention for a smoother ride to achieving the Net Zero. This comprehensive information package analyses union and state government policies in the climate and climate adjacent space. It also looks at policy measures taken by the State through sectoral initiatives and legal means.
In this detailed article, we will look at the following:
- Maharashtra and Climate Change: Agriculture, Rainfall, Fisheries, Water Resources, Livestock, Drought
- What Maharashtra’s Just Transition Will Look Like: Maharashtra and GHG Emissions; Maharashtra and Renewable Energy
- Industry’s path to Net Zero
- Maharashtra and Carbon Sink Creation
- Maharashtra and Communities
- Maharashtra and Mangroves
- Maharashtra and Net Zero Strategies
- Call for actions
The steps to transitioning into a net zero economy, particularly in a developing country like India should be cognizant of the inequitable burdens carried by vulnerable communities. Eliminating and mitigating carbon emissions should not be at the cost of increased harm to these communities. This aspect of a just transition is explored by analysing the various opportunities that are unique to Maharashtra. We identify that reduction of carbon emission and pivoting towards renewable energy is a realistic possibility for the state. It can also add further value to the economy with better employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. As a highly industrialized state, the shift towards net zero requires close cooperation between the state and the industries. We identify opportunities to ease this shift, highlighting areas of focus such as MSMEs and data centre operations in addition to large scale industrial operations. Identifying the policy vacuums will benefit creative problem solving mutually benefiting the state and the industries.
Carbon sink creation is a preferred and touted method of achieving net zero goals. The package analyses the context of carbon capture in Maharashtra based on the India State of Forest Report, highlighting the importance of an equitable approach to afforestation and land use. Changes in land use patterns and climate change mitigation oriented reforms have major impacts on the people. It is imperative to protect the interests of forest-dwellers and forest-dependent communities while devising strategies to achieve Net Zero, and not perpetrate historical inequities.
The package also highlights the special focus given by the state to utilise mangroves as part of its climate resilience strategy. It builds on these efforts to suggest improvements such as ecologically sensitive tourism for employment. Finally, it policy suggestions and implementable solutions to accelerate Maharashtra’s journey towards becoming a Net Zero State. It analyses existing plans and measures to suggest a more just and democratic approach to designing Maharashtra’s climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, while achieving the objective of Net Zero.
Under the Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty that came into force in 2016, India pledged to do the following as its Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) by 2030:
i. Reach 500GW Non-fossil energy capacity by 2030.
ii. 50 per cent of its energy requirements from renewable energy by 2030. iii. Reduction of total projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes from now to 2030.
iv. Reduction of the carbon intensity of the economy by 45 per cent by 2030, over 2005 levels.
v. Achieving the target of net zero emissions by 2070.
The states of the country, too, in accordance with their capacity and resources, have roles to fulfill when it comes to achieving this target.
Maharashtra is India’s second-most populous State and third-largest State by area. It has a long coastline stretching nearly 720 kilometres along the Arabian Sea. Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra and the financial capital of India, houses the headquarters of many major corporate & financial institutions. Maharashtra is one of the biggest contributors to the Indian economy; the State has been growing faster than the all-India average in most periods and is expected to continue the momentum. The State contributes to 27% of the total exports in India. In view of its continuing socio – economic importance as well as its increasing climate change vulnerability, the Government of Maharashtra has taken various steps to ensure that the State is on its way to achieve the INDC targets. In addition to implementing the national policy decisions accommodative of INDC targets, the State is well on its way to achieve Net Zero as its own carbon emission capacity. Under the aegis of the Government of Maharashtra, Mumbai became the first South Asian city to make a Net Zero commitment.1 Forty- two other cities in the State that fall within the purview of the Centre’s Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme, will also contribute to Maharashtra’s commitment to Net Zero by 2050. These cities are Pune, Kalyan-Dombivali, Mira-Bhayandar, Navi Mumbai, Bhiwandi, Ulhasnagar, Ambernath, Vasai-Virar, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Malegaon, Nagpur, Bhusawal, Barshi, Satara, Sangli-Miraz, Kolhapur, Icchalkaranji, Parbhani, Jalna, Akola, Beed, Latur, Udgir, Aurangabad, Kolhapur, Nanded, Badlapur, Panvel. Dhule, Ahmednagar, Chandrapur, Raigad, Osmanabad, Waghala, Gondia, Nashik, Solapur, Amravati, Achalpur, Wardha, Hinganghat and Jalgaon.2 The five cities that have already begun creating a roadmap for achieving Net Zero through city-level Climate Action Plans are said to follow the Mumbai Climate Action Plan.3
The Mumbai Climate Action Plan 2022 has identified the following six sectors to prioritise its journey toward Net Zero:
1. Energy and Buildings
2. Sustainable Mobility
3. Sustainable Waste Management
4. Urban Greening and Biodiversity
5. Air Quality
6. Urban Flooding and Water Resource Management
Given that this sectoral focus could be replicated in other cities and drive Maharashtra’s Net Zero journey, it is imperative to understand the context in which these policy decisions will operate.
Before evaluating how Maharashtra can meet this goal, this document provides a quick assessment of the existing climatic conditions and the directly impacted sectors. The methods explored will be that of a ‘just transition,’ wherein the transition from a fossil fuel-based economy to renewable energy or a green economy occurs while the benefits accruing out of the same are distributed to all, and no group is adversely affected as a consequence of the same too. In addition, the document will also navigate the opportunities for innovation, employment, and growth available to the State in this transition process. Finally, natural resource-dependent communities, their contribution, and protection will be highlighted and aligned with the discourse on India’s nationally determined contributions.
Maharashtra and Climate Change:
A recent study on states’ vulnerability to climate change ranked Maharashtra as one of the least vulnerable states, with a vulnerability index of 0.42.4 However, this does not ensure that the State is immune from the all-pervasive impacts of climate change. Here is a brief assessment of the impact climate change has had and is projected to have on the State, its natural resources, livelihoods, and people:
a. Agriculture:
Extreme weather events associated with climate change are going to adversely affect the agricultural output of the state through diminished yields of sugarcane, pearl millet, heat, rice, jowar, wheat and other crops from 2033, according to a study based on data from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and the International Panel on Climate Change’s in its Fifth Assessment Report published in 2014.5 This impact on agriculture is owing to temperature changes, reduced water availability, increased carbon dioxide concentrations, changes in moisture etc.6
b. Rainfall:
The state’s annual rainfall is expected to increase by 18 – 22%, especially in the Vidarbha and Konkan regions, with the potential to cause destruction and floods. This increased rainfall also harms the soil by increasing the leaching rate, thereby threatening agricultural productivity.7 Moreover, the same study underlines that approximately 80% of the districts of the State are to witness a rise in the Annual Mean Temperature between the years 2033 and 2050, offsetting the positive impacts of most of the above rainfall on agriculture.
c. Fisheries:
Maharashtra falls on the west coast of the country, which contributes to 60-70% of the entire country’s marine catch.8 However, there was a decline of 12% in landings compared to 2020,9 which is its lowest annual catch in the past 45 years.10 This has been attributed to extreme weather patterns, continuous large volume exploitation of young fish and the extended rainy season, decline in phytoplankton population (30% in the western Indian ocean during the last 16 years), migration of fish, unusual formations of frequent cyclones in the Arabian Sea, which are all attributable to climate change.11
The impact of these climate shifts on fish catch volumes is casting a long shadow on the 2.8 million people working in the fishing industry across India, with women accounting for nearly 70% of post-fishing activities such as cleaning and selling fish.12 The decline in catch directly affects their financial independence, increasing the gender disparity.13
d. Water Resources:
It is expected that river Tapi will continue to experience constant water scarcities, as will river Narmada, which collectively irrigate most of North Maharashtra. In addition, rivers Krishna and Godavari that irrigate the central and eastern parts of the State are also expected to experience water shortages.14
e. Livestock:
The rise in temperatures and increase in the temperature humidity index is bound to create heat stress conditions in dairy animals and , therefore, significant changes in feed intake, affecting the milk production and exposure to risks of heavy rains, floods and cyclones and allied extreme weather events.15 The state lost 10% of cattle in the last seven years due to drought-like situations.16
f. Drought:
The study ‘Monitoring drought pattern for pre-and post-monsoon seasons in a semi-arid region of Western India’17 documented the increasing drought in the Latur district from 1996 to 2016 using satellite data. It reported a constant decline in the region’s ability to use water for irrigation and other purposes during the pre-monsoon season. The report also warns that other districts in Marathwada and parts of north Maharashtra — Beed, Osmanabad, Jalna, Jalgaon, Aurangabad, Nanded, and Dhule — are vulnerable and the condition is likely to impact the agrarian communities severely.
II. Maharashtra and Just Transition
a. Maharashtra and GHG Emissions
The country’s largest share of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide emissions is contributed by the state of Maharashtra, followed by West Bengal and Gujarat. Similarly, more than 80 percent of the emissions of the manufacturing industry comes from only ten states, of which Maharashtra is a significant contributor at 8%.18 The state’s emissions grew from 182.8 MtCO2e to 233 MtCO2e from 2005 – 2013.19
However, Maharashtra has performed well in terms of CNG penetration. It is also making significant efforts to adopt the ECBC (Energy Conservation Building Code). It is one of the front-runners in energy saving in commercial and public buildings.20 However, non-renewable energy continues to be the predominant source of emissions in the State. Of these, emissions mainly arise from two main sub-sectors, i.e., Fuel Combustion, such as public electricity generation, transport, industries and agriculture, commercial and residential use and fugitive.
Currently, the state is the largest power-generating state in the country with an installed electricity generation capacity of 39,021 MW. However, coal power plants require tremendous quantities of water at 23,000,000 litres per megawatt per year. The double disadvantage lies in that most of the coal-fired power plants are located in Marathwada, Vidarbha, and northern Maharashtra drought-prone regions. Therefore, this continued reliance on a coal-dependent electricity sector heavily dependent on already scarce water resources is catastrophic for the state’s water supply, environment, and economy.21 Maharashtra’s annual contribution is the highest in the transport sector amounting to a total of 26.4 gigatonnes.
b. Maharashtra and Renewable Energy
In line with the Paris Agreement, the Government of Maharashtra has committed to achieving 40% of its electricity generation from renewable energy sources by 2030. According to reports published by the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), Maharashtra has the third-largest solar power generation potential in India, with an aggregate solar power potential capacity of 64.32 GW. Furthermore, according to the Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) report, Maharashtra had an installed renewable energy capacity of 9.7 GW in June 2020.22 Out of this, 1.6 GW constitutes operational solar projects, and about 1.2 GW is currently under development.23
According to the India Solar Project trackers, Maharashtra is ranked fourth in the country in solar rooftop installations, representing 9% of the total installed capacity.24It also has the second-highest installed capacity of renewable-based power options among all the states in India.25
In 2019, the state achieved its target of generating an additional grid-connected solar power capacity of 7,500 MW. Moreover, the Union Ministry has made Maharashtra the pioneer state in setting up the country’s highest number of rooftop solar power plants, with the deadline being 2022.26
Source : Overview of Renewable Energy in Maharashtra
Let’s look at the initiatives of the State that are to further aid in the development of the non-renewable sector:
With a 278 MW wind farm in Sangli, another 528 MW wind farm in Dhule, and a 259 MW wind park in Satara, Maharashtra ranks third in states with the highest installed wind power in India.40 Maharashtra has about 5GW of wind projects, amounting to 13% of India’s total installed wind power capacity41. Despite these measures in place, it is necessary to identify obstacles and the potential opportunities for interventions for a smoother ride to achieve INDCs and become Zero Se Hero :
Industry’s path to Net Zero :
Pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, heavy chemicals, electronics, automobiles, engineering, food processing, and plastics are some of the major industries in the state. Since climate change impacts are perceived as a clear threat to businesses, there is a demand for investors in India to accelerate investments in carbon-negative industries. Investors are interested not only in previous emissions but also in what companies’ carbon footprints will look like in the future. This encourages more businesses to develop emission-reduction strategies and hold themselves accountable for progress toward reaching them.
Net zero is a state in which the activities within a company’s value chain result in no net impact on the climate from GHG emissions. Every company’s road to decarbonization begins with a thorough value chain GHG baseline and footprint assessment. This shift will come with massive changes to markets and cost structures for companies in many industries—especially those with energy-intensive operations and those that produce energy, materials, and capital equipment.
According to the survey ‘Impact of Climate Change on various Businesses & Industries in Maharashtra‘, more than 70% of Maharashtra’s industrial sector believed that climate change is a real issue. However, this issue is acknowledged more by the industrial sector (78%) associated with large industries as compared to those in Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (68%) (MSMEs). Maharashtra has an estimated 47.78 lakh MSMEs, which constitutes about 8% of the total MSMEs in the country. While large industries have better access to technical advisory and expert support from the government, the sector still seeks financial aid (loans, credit facility).48 However, the same is not as easily accessible to MSMEs. To fill this knowledge gap, the state must provide a clear action plan for MSMEs and provide the necessary hand-holding. With Mumbai-based Reliance Industries (RIL), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HDFC Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, JSW Energy, and 64 other Indian companies having pledged to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it is an opportune time to utilise the greening agendas of larger conglomerates for offering assistance to MSMEs for their transitions .49
It must also be noted that as the economy and industry grow, technology continues to be a necessary route for sustainable economic development. Digitization and dependence on networked electronic communication have created a data-intensive economy that now demands access to land for continuous and uninterrupted economic activity. Data centers
are an unavoidable part of this modern economy; Mumbai continues to be the fulcrum of India’s data center industry.50 Maharashtra also hopes to attract investment in this sector, being one of the few states in the country that has taken policy measures to encourage the data centre industry under the Maharashtra’s Information Technology/InformationTechnology Enabled Services (IT / ITES) Policy – 2015.51 However, this is also an industry with a considerable carbon footprint and resultant emissions.52It is necessary to consider the climate impacts of this industry and incorporate decarbonisation as a part of the policy objectives while developing the industry’s presence in the state. 53
A recent McKinsey research report54 on the economics of a net-zero transition notes that India’s capital spending on low-emission assets such as solar farms and electric vehicles would rise from its current level of 50% of capital spending to 80% over the next three decades.
While such a transition is being made to more renewable sources of transport and allied sectors, it is critical that the displaced and upcoming workers are prepared to work in these newer forms. As lower-skilled occupations continue to take up a large share of employment and skills are considered transferable, the need for such training programmes are often overlooked while policy making.
Actions to ensure that the renewable sector does not create jobs that increase insecurities, there need to be some safeguards in place, which include but are not limited to:
1. Capacity building in operations and maintenance services ;
2. Strengthening links between training institutes and renewable energy enterprises across the supply chain ;
3. Creating a sense of ownership and contribution to the growth of renewable energy projects among those employed.
An industrial state like Maharashtra needs to work with corporates to leverage developmental funds and public finance to increase the uptake of private finance. Existing successful models must be identified and scaled up to support the mainstreaming of green finance. In addition, transparent and robust definitions of what is ‘green’ for financial and non-financial reporting are needed for accountability.
Maharashtra and Carbon Sink Creation
The creation of an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030 is one of the major INDCs of the country55 and states will have to do their part to achieve this target.
According to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR), 2021, Maharashtra has a recorded forest area of 61, 952 sq, with six national parks, 48 national wildlife sanctuaries and six conservation reserves constituting the protected area network of the state. The state’s forest cover is 50,798sq km, comprising around 16.5% of the state’s geographical area.56 Maharashtra also has the maximum tree cover in the country at 12,108 sq km.57
Fig. 3: Forest Cover of Maharashtra/ Source: Indian State of Forest Report, 2021
The State has more than 300 sq km of moderately dense and open mangrove forests, constituting around 6.5% of the country’s total mangrove count.58 The state is also home to 359 different types of plant species.59
Fig. 4: Mangrove cover in different states and union territories in India Source: Indian State of Forests Report, 2021 – Mangrove Cover
The total carbon stock of the forests in the State is 451.61 million tonnes which makes it 1,655.90 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, amounting to more than 6% of the total forest carbon of the country.60 However, more than 470.68sq km of this forest is extremely fire-prone and another 3,585.37sq km is very highly vulnerable to fire risks.61
The following are some of the State specific schemes and initiatives that throw light on forest governance in the State :
However, carbon sink creation is expensive in terms of its land requirements. Therefore, the exercise of Identifying new areas of land to increase vegetation should be preceded by social assessments to ensure that the rights of historically marginalized communities or natural resource dependent communities are not violated. Reforestation does not necessarily lead to forest restoration. A reforestation plan must be focused on the importance of native trees, especially on their importance in socio-economic and cultural value, better adaptability to local agro-ecological conditions, weather, and resilience to climate variability and natural disasters like cyclones, floods, and drought, provision of food, fiber, fuel, fodder and other ecosystem services. Furthermore, people should be oriented towards scientific forestry and the harms of invasive or non-native species.
Maharashtra and Communities
In Maharashtra alone, the population of Forest Fringe Villages (FFVs) is approximately 4,23,00,000 whose dependency ranges from fuelwood, fodder, small timber and bamboo.
Fig. 5: Estimation of Dependence of people in Forest Fringe Villages on Forests in Maharashtra/ Source: Indian State of Forests Report, 2019 – Maharashtra
In terms of total removal of fuelwood by the people living in FFVs, the highest quantity of fuelwood is estimated for Maharashtra, followed by Odisha and Rajasthan. Similarly, in terms of the total amount of removal of fodder, Maharashtra is estimated to be the second highest and stands as the third highest in the removal of small timber.
Fig. 6: Top 10 states in terms of per capita dependence on forests for small timber Source: Indian State of Forests Report, 2019 – People and Forests
Fig. 7: Top 10 states in terms of dependence on forests for bamboo/ Source: Indian State of Forests Report, 2019 – People and Forests
Fig. 8: Top 10 states in terms of dependence on forests for fodder/ Source: Indian State of Forests Report, 2019 – People and Forests
As demonstrated, rural households, fringe forest villages, and resource-dependent communities heavily depend on these common property resources to provide materials for their use and sale. In addition, they are the predominant sources of livelihood for them since they are the source of fodder for their livestock. Therefore, common property resources are critical to sustaining livelihoods, improving the rural economy, and doubling farmers’ incomes.
According to CSE’s ‘People’s Forests’ Report, Maharashtra has the country’s highest potential Community Forest Rights (CFR) area, with 48,20,028 hectares of land recorded. While, as of 2016, the state has already issued title deeds of over 706, 524 hectares of forest land, this is only 14 percent of the potential CFR of the state.66
Fig. 9: Community Forest Rights Implementation in India/ Source: How community rights under the Forest Rights Act could transform the lives of millions of forest dwellers
Despite this success of Maharashtra in the allocation of community property resources under FRA, a case study by ISB reveals that the implementation across the state has been somewhat uneven due to several factors such as centralized training programs, compliance being limited to those areas only where advocacy groups were present along with limited to total lack of awareness of the Act in any areas67. This unevenness of implementation can be reflected in the fact that out of 33 districts in the state, 30 of them had a mere 0-33 compliance rate for processing CFR claims68.
Fig. 10: District-wise data analysis of CFR claims received and processed in Maharashtra/ Source: Community Forest Rights’ Titles Better Livelihood, Better Ecology – A Case Study in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra
Another critical factor in the process of a just transition is that no communities must be adversely affected. However, owing to the historical usages of land, the absence of legal definitions, and policy paralysis regarding the same, these common property resources under the control of the state are often classified into wasteland and diverted to renewable energy projects. This nexus between land-use and community dependency is often ignored.
Fig. 11: Wasteland Map of Maharashtra as on 2003/ Source : Wasteland Atlas of India
Therefore, it is absolutely critical that an adequate mapping of the resource and resource-dependent rights is done before land is used for renewable energy projects. Implementing this in the right spirit would help protect community rights and other natural resource dependent rights and prevent land conflicts as well as unsustainable and exclusive renewable energy practices. This is critical, given that there is an increasing tendency to view resources as distinct from the communities dependent on them, reflected in decisions such as the elimination of the forest and communities section from the ISFR.
As of now, keeping in mind the land-use framework for the installation of renewable energy generation capacity, the Maharashtra government is contemplating preparing a policy wherein vacant plots and agricultural land will be leased to set up solar energy projects,69 and land that is deemed unsuitable for farming, or infertile across Maharashtra will be utilised for solar power generation projects.70 But land continues to be a limited resource and predominant portions of it are already associated with some kind of land-use in major parts of the state.
According to the IEEFA report on Renewable Energy and Land Use in India by Mid-Century,71 states in India will use significant stretches of land by 2050 to install renewable energy generation capacities, and this land-use increase may impact the environment. There is a strong possibility of taking over areas classified as wastelands when considering the location of renewable energy projects and this may put a strain on a variety of ecosystems. Incidentally, Maharashtra has the second largest area in the country under the category of ‘wastelands’.72
The paper suggested the following guidelines for the creation of a land-use framework for the installation of renewable energy generation capacity:
1. Minimising total land-use requirements for renewable energy by promoting offshore wind, rooftop solar and solar on water bodies
2. Identification and assessment of land for renewable generation by limiting undue regional concentration and developing environmental and social standards for rating potential sites.
3. Attention on the Indian agri-voltaics sector — securing benefits to farmers and incentivising agri-voltaics uptake where crops, soils and conditions are suitable and yields can be maintained or improved.
Maharashtra and Mangroves
Mangrove forests are integral to Maharashtra’s climate change and environmental protection strategy and it reflects in the increasing attention given to the subject through a dedicated Mangrove Cell at the State level.73 According to the ISFR 2021, Maharashtra reported a 4.02% increase in total mangrove cover bringing over 320 sq km of mangrove cover to the state.74 The activities of the Cell incorporated multiple initiatives integrating conservation, research and livelihood building.75
The Mangrove and Marine Biodiversity Conservation Foundation of Maharashtra (Mangrove Foundation) has been spearheading work in this area giving attention to all three prongs. Over the years of its establishment since 2015, the Mangrove Foundation has continuously achieved mangrove afforestation.
The state has invested in research on mangroves, which can contribute to the development of evidence-based policy positions on the strategic value of mangroves in combating climate change.76 The government is also engaging productively with other stakeholders to produce knowledge in this area that could be critical to long-term policy decisions77. This is reflected in the Mumbai Climate Action Plan 2022, where mangroves play a significant role in mitigating current and future coastal risk as well as carbon sink creation leading to better adaptation potential.78
Integrating the affected communities into these efforts is essential, achieved by the ‘Mangrove Conservation and Livelihood Generation” scheme. Under the leadership of village-based Mangrove Co-Management Committees (MCMC), activities such as Mud Crab Farming, Oyster Farming, Fish Cage Culture, Marine and Freshwater Ornamental Fish rearing, and Mangrove Ecotourism are being practiced across 122 villages from Palghar, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg.79 The Mangrove Foundation also conducts capacity building and training programmes across these districts integrating the learnings from its research and governance activities.
The state has taken additional steps to bring an ecocentric approach to environmental protection through policy. Legal measures have been undertaken to address specific concerns, such as habitat preservation for migratory flamingos.80 The state government has also classified all eligible mangroves, i.e., more than 50% of the state’s mangrove cover, as “forests” under the Indian Forest Act, 1927. This would further enhance the protections available to the mangrove forests.
The need of the hour is the focus on Mangroves in Maharashtra and the approach to holistically build climate resilience. However, extensive tourism can stress mangroves and cause degradation of the ecosystem as was seen in Aruba.81 Special efforts must be made to ensure that minimal damage is caused to the ecosystem while mangrove tourism is utilized as a beneficial sector of employment for communities that have traditionally been dependent on resources from these areas. Activities such as plastic fishing, lightweight and low-speed boating equipment etc. can be ways to achieve the same.
Maharashtra and Net Zero Strategies
As mentioned above, the Mumbai Climate Action Plan lays down Maharashtra’s approach to Net Zero in its clearest terms. Within the overarching target of Net Zero by 2050, the Mumbai Climate Action Plan lays down Mumbai’s interim and long-term targets as a 30% emissions reduction by 2030 and 44% by 2040 against the base year emissions of 2019. It focuses on six sectors, and it would be reasonable to presume that similar sectoral priorities will be identified across the cities that are now developing climate action plans to achieve Net Zero. Based on these details, an analysis can be presented for the whole state of Maharashtra as well the cities within AMRUT.
The Mumbai Climate Action Plan 2022 provides a very detailed strategy to address energy, transportation, and waste management, while delving into urban greening, air quality, and water resources management. Within the sectoral plans for waste management, it proposes an ambitious but decentralized effort to achieve emissions reduction from the city’s waste. A decentralized approach to this problem seems logical however, the strategy isn’t clear enough to monitor the success at such decentralized levels.
As other cities develop their Climate Action Plans, it is critical to give equal importance to urban greening, air quality and water resources management. This will enhance the inclusivity of such plans by taking social realities into account since they are heavily tied to the access to biodiversity in the urban spaces, air quality and water management. Historically, the consequences of poor governance in all these sectors have been borne by the marginalized in the city. This also calls for a mindful increase of vegetation and land cover in cities, which also reflect caste, religion and gender-based land holding patterns.
The priority within the Energy and building sector appears to be that of decarbonising the electricity grid. This is critical as the grid is heavily dependent on fossil fuels. However, attempts at decarbonising the economy will also depend on the construction industry, which is a major contributor to the emissions mix of the State. It also accounts for a considerable percentage of workers in the state of Maharashtra attracting low-skilled casual labour, which is often unorganised. Therefore, urban policy and design prioritizing Net Zero goals must also account for its effects on this demographic while formulating decisions. This would involve upskilling and reskilling workers as well as making engineering decisions to reduce construction emissions.
The sectoral priority on sustainable mobility should consider better inclusivity in policy to ensure children, women, and non-binary commuters have adequate and safe access to public transport. While the document identifies the necessity to accommodate women, children, and senior citizens more, it does not present solutions. Concrete planning by extending the scope of the planned commuter helpline and its efficient working is one way to help children, senior citizens, women, and non-binary commuters.
Effective prioritization of waste management is achievable only with a waste management workforce that is empowered and socially protected. Therefore, climate Action Plans should go beyond mentioning formalization and training for waste and sanitation workers, by ensuring measures for translating it into institutional action. Moreover, it should ensure adequate labor protection and social security for workers at ground zero, including investment in safety and protective gear.
City Municipal Corporations and local government bodies focus on urban greening in public spaces. They can also nudge private property owners and occupants to join their efforts in increasing green cover through indigenous vegetation. They can create local vegetation seed banks and plant banks82for individual level gardening and afforestation efforts.
Improving air quality requires continuous monitoring, and the results of such monitoring should be made available to the citizens who are the key stakeholders. Open access air quality data through a public dashboard can improve access and aid collaboration. Such efforts at a ward level to monitor air quality data in relation to social indicators can help formulate hyper-localised and an inclusive policy to achieve the objectives of improving air quality, human development markers and social indicators.
A primary concern during urban flooding is the damage sustained by communication systems, including televisions, the internet, and phones. Mitigation and adaptation efforts focusing on urban flooding should also invest in climate-proof communication systems that can withstand urban flooding. In addition, it should investigate disaster management and mitigation as an avenue to create a new pool of disaster management and aid-related workers. Training people in high-stress environments or having experience with such ecosystems can help the city’s overall approach towards adaptation and mitigation of climate risks.
Finally, it would be ideal to provide a statutory backing to these plans under acts such as the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act.83 The Act lays down clear procedures for preparing Regional and Development Plans. However, once sanctioned by the State government, it bestows obligations on bureaucrats. It also asks for a higher degree of accountability. Finally, it provides improved public scrutiny, which is necessary for our climate emergency.
Call for actions
● Create legislative backing for the city, regional, and state-level climate action plans through the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act.
● Devise specific strategies to address water resources risks to the agrarian community.
● Initiate a State level plan to address coal dependency for electricity, which also contributes heavily to .
● Pivot attention to the Unconventional Energy Generation Policy, 2020 to harness the potential of solar power generation in the state.
● Create a single window clearance system to develop solar projects. ● Clarify the net and gross metering for commercial and industrial segments, preferably leaving the choice of behind the meter captive rooftop solar projects to the consumer.
● MSAACP should also account for extreme weather events such as thunderstorms, lightning, and air pollution linked to the environment and climatic changes. ● Create vocational training institutes and programmes that can meet the demand for workers trained in renewable energy sectors and ease the transition into a Net Zero economy.
● Remove the limit on the net metering arrangement on electricity generated by the rooftop systems.
● Collaborate with industry to create developmental funds for the exclusive purpose of achieving the Net Zero targets.
● Provide additional technical and policy support to MSMEs to become Net Zero businesses.
● State level policies incentivising green financing must be adopted. ● Ensure low-skilled labour is not left out of policy decisions in the transition towards a Net Zero economy.
● Provide capacity building training to unskilled labourers who can then be employed in operations and maintenance services in the renewable energy industry. ● Make extra efforts to strengthen the links between training institutes and renewable energy enterprises across the supply chain.
● Improve the implementation of community forest rights and the compliance for allocation of community property resources under FRA, 2006.
● Land diversion for renewable energy projects must not impinge on the rights of historically marginalized communities and ensure that natural resource dependent communities are not violated. Perform social assessments before taking over and utilising land for carbon sequestration and carbon sink creation
● Mangrove tourism should ensure minimal distress to mangrove ecosystems. Activities such as plastic fishing, use of lightweight and low-speed boating equipment etc., should be encouraged.
● Attention should be paid to the Indian agri-voltaics sector as a technology that can increase the income of farmers by generation of electricity and growing of cash crops simultaneously on the same piece of land.
● Decentralised waste management plans should have clear metrics for monitoring and evaluation of their success.
● Increasing green cover should be mindful of local ecosystems and social realities of the people residing therein.
● In addition to decarbonising the electricity grid, attention should be paid to decarbonising the construction economy. This would also require paying adequate attention to upskilling and reskilling workers as well as making engineering decisions to ensure that construction emissions are reduced.
● The sectoral priority on sustainable mobility should consider better inclusivity in policy to ensure children, women and non-binary commuters. They must have adequate and safe access to public transport.
● Climate Action Plans should ensure adequate labour protection and social security for workers at ground-zero, including the investment in safety and protective gear. ● Local government bodies should create seed and plant banks for individual level gardening and afforestation.
● Air quality data should be made open access through public dashboards to improve information access and aid collaboration.
● Mitigation and adaptation efforts towards focusing on urban flooding should also invest in climate proof communication systems that can withstand urban flooding. ● Special attention should be paid to training people who are in high-stress environments or have experience with such ecosystems to help during climate disasters as well as improve overall approach towards adaptation and mitigation.
Youth Ki Awaaz is currently India’s largest youth media platform with over 4 million monthly readers and thousands of writers, comprising social entrepreneurs, citizen journalists, and individuals creating change at the grassroots. Through our work, we have started online trends and nationwide conversations on social change in our society. #ZeroSeHero is a campaign designed to inspire positive action by decision makers and next gen changemakers to help India transition from fossil fuel to clean energy, while growing economically and protecting vulnerable communities. This initiative furthers the commitment we have at Youth Ki Awaaz to contribute to better changes in our lives, well-being and the world.
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