By- Mangesh Kashyap
Pune's rapid urbanization has made its carbon footprint much higher than some other Indian cities. It means that the Pune Municipal Corporation and city planners must immediately tackle emission levels and cut our carbon footprint.
At the same time, Pune's ecological footprint — the amount of productive land and water bodies required to produce the resources the city consumes and to absorb its waste — has also doubled in the post liberalization era, since 1991. In fact, all major Indian cities have been depleting their ecological assets to boost economics. This is leaving us exposed to extreme weather events and global warming.
To reduce the burden of more extreme weather, it is necessary to know how much fossil fuels are being burnt. The total carbon that individuals are responsible for is called carbon footprint. Any individual can calculate their footprint by visiting footprintcalculator.org .
Currently, Pune requires the biocapacity of more than three Punes to provide for its consumption and to absorb its waste. This was revealed by a study backed by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Global Footprint Network.
Also, by 2030, the United Nations predicts there will be more than 8.5 billion people on Earth — that's just over a decade from now.
The challenge lies in helping cities like Pune make the transition to low-carbon transport systems. A vital aspect of this transition involves encouraging use of public transport so that the transport sector can contribute towards reducing CO2 emissions.
In addition, 60 years after the Green Revolution, many experts from Pune argue that the city's population is growing faster than its ability to feed. Some attribute the lag to the fact that agricultural research has not expanded since the 1980s, but groundwater has been depleted at an alarming rate. More than 75% of districts extract more groundwater than is replenished by nature.
As far as transport is concerned, moving from a high to a low-carbon transport sector requires combining urban multi-modal transit systems — rail, maritime and air lines — and disruptive trends such as shared mobility, autonomous driving, and electrification. Clearly, Pune's ecological deficit poses a big challenge to its leaders' ability to improve the quality of life for vast segments of the population now living in poverty or in slum areas. So for Pune, as a society, to continue to prosper in an increasingly resource-constrained world, business and government leaders must work actively to protect the natural resources on which the city's economy and all human life depends.
Overall then, the experts at the Footprint Network were right when they said that it's only with policies that protect the natural resources can India shift from an economy that has grown at the expense of the environment to one that flourishes by preserving it.
Pune's rapid urbanization has made its carbon footprint much higher than some other Indian cities. It means that the Pune Municipal Corporation and city planners must immediately tackle emission levels and cut our carbon footprint.
At the same time, Pune's ecological footprint — the amount of productive land and water bodies required to produce the resources the city consumes and to absorb its waste — has also doubled in the post liberalization era, since 1991. In fact, all major Indian cities have been depleting their ecological assets to boost economics. This is leaving us exposed to extreme weather events and global warming.
To reduce the burden of more extreme weather, it is necessary to know how much fossil fuels are being burnt. The total carbon that individuals are responsible for is called carbon footprint. Any individual can calculate their footprint by visiting footprintcalculator.org .
Currently, Pune requires the biocapacity of more than three Punes to provide for its consumption and to absorb its waste. This was revealed by a study backed by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Global Footprint Network.
Also, by 2030, the United Nations predicts there will be more than 8.5 billion people on Earth — that's just over a decade from now.
The challenge lies in helping cities like Pune make the transition to low-carbon transport systems. A vital aspect of this transition involves encouraging use of public transport so that the transport sector can contribute towards reducing CO2 emissions.
In addition, 60 years after the Green Revolution, many experts from Pune argue that the city's population is growing faster than its ability to feed. Some attribute the lag to the fact that agricultural research has not expanded since the 1980s, but groundwater has been depleted at an alarming rate. More than 75% of districts extract more groundwater than is replenished by nature.
As far as transport is concerned, moving from a high to a low-carbon transport sector requires combining urban multi-modal transit systems — rail, maritime and air lines — and disruptive trends such as shared mobility, autonomous driving, and electrification. Clearly, Pune's ecological deficit poses a big challenge to its leaders' ability to improve the quality of life for vast segments of the population now living in poverty or in slum areas. So for Pune, as a society, to continue to prosper in an increasingly resource-constrained world, business and government leaders must work actively to protect the natural resources on which the city's economy and all human life depends.
Overall then, the experts at the Footprint Network were right when they said that it's only with policies that protect the natural resources can India shift from an economy that has grown at the expense of the environment to one that flourishes by preserving it.
Get latest news & live updates on the go on your pc with News App. Download The Times of India news app for your device.
