PUNE: Pune is among the three Indian cities selected as national finalists in the 2017-18 edition of World Wide Fund for Nature _WWFs
One Planet City Challenge (OPCC). Pune has emerged winners with Panaji and Rajkot amongst the 40 finalists out of the 118 cities across 23 countries that participated in global challenge this year.
The One Planet City challenge, previously known as the
Earth Hour City Challenge, invites cities in participating countries to report ambitious and innovative climate actions and plans in different sectors including energy, transport, housing and waste, on the international
carbon Climate Registry platform. After evaluation by international jury, one city from each country is selected as the National Winner, which is then in the run-up to receive the Global Winner title.
In addition to being the OPCC finalist cities, the three cities are also among the 99 cities under government of India’s Smart Cities Mission. Under this the initiative the city has to pledge committment in under taking progressive actions towards integrating sustainability in their initiatives.
The plans and actions under taken by these cities under
Smart City Mission resonate with the themes identified in the OPCC platform such as, renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable mobility, waste management and sustainable infrastructure plans stated the officials of this initiative.
T.S.Panwar, Director, Climate change and Energy Programme, WWF India told TOI that given the increasing urbanization in India, cities have a significant role in providing solutions for mitigating carbon emissions as well as preparing for climate resilient development . "Platforms such as OPCC bring together multiple stakeholders as well as common citizens to inspire and support cities become climate smart and sustainable solution hotspots in areas such as energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable transport & overall low carbon development .”
The officials further stated that the city was working to address climate related challenges by enhancing its sustainable mobility landscape, promoting energy efficiency measures, increasing green cover, and improving the waste management infrastructure.
According to the officials one of the significant action undertaken by the city include reducing emissions by developing a multi-modal integrated mobility plan to improve public transport and traffic management as well as emphasize cycling, walking and non
motorized transportation. The city's Energy saving Cell to focus on resource conservation measures too has been acknowledged.
According to OPCC the other two cities Panaji has emerged winners for having taken strong action to improve waste management and aims to be landfill-free city. The city has also been recognized for enhancing the renewable energy capacity, and improving the sustainable mobility landscape by implementing an “Intelligent Transportation System” to improve traffic management, accessibility to public transportation & pedestrian mobility. In case of Rajkot according to the organisers, their actions taken to improve uptake of renewable energy, provide better waste management practices and expand the city’s sustainable mobility infrastructure including public transportation has seen them emerge winners. Rajkot has also demonstrated promising commitment for reducing emissions, along with multiple initiative energy security.
According to the organisers the three cities have moved on to the next phase of challenge and will now compete for the title of National and Global Winner. They will also participate in the OPCC’s public campaign called, “We Love Cities”, which aims to inspire and engage citizens for support as well as sharing ideas for improvement.
Since the inception of Challenge in 2011, WWF has engaged over 411 cities across 5 continents. India became part of this global platform in 2012 and was the first developing country to join this initiative. Since then, WWF India has engaged with 24 cities for the challenge, out of which, Delhi, Coimbatore, Thane and Rajkot have been the National Earth Hour Capitals in the earlier editions.
WWF works in collaboration with International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives- ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability to mobilize cities to participate in the One Planet City Challenge. ICLEI assists cities in reporting their data on its carbon Climate Registry platform. The organisation is one of India’s leading conservation organisations with programmes and projects spread across the country working towards the conservation of biodiversity, natural habitats and the reduction of humanity’s ecological footprint. The mission of WWF-India is to stop the degradation of the earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.
