India aims to build champions in climate change adaptation and mitigation solution

Initiated jointly by the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) and the World Resource Institute (WRI), the programme aims at building capacity among urban professionals to lead climate action across sectors and geographies in India.

New Delhi: With an aim to build capacity among 5,000 urban leaders in climate change adaptation and mitigation by 2027, Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday launched the Leaders in Climate Change Management (LCCM) programme to help urban professionals champion climate action in India.

Initiated jointly by the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) and the World Resource Institute (WRI), the programme aims at building capacity among urban professionals to lead climate action across sectors and geographies in India.

The LCCM envisions capacitating 5,000 professionals, including mid to junior level government officials and front line workers, and preparing them to champion climate change adaptation and mitigation solutions towards a coordinated effort to achieve India's climate commitments.

"It's most appropriate and fitting that we are launching the (LCCM) programme today immediately after the celebration of World Environment Day yesterday. This programme is another initiative in a long line of government interventions to not only combat climate change but also to build a new path of sustainable development that fulfill our economic conditions," Puri said.

Puri said that in the last eight years, Modi government had taken many concrete steps in pushing the sustainability agenda forward. "At COP26 in Glasgow, the Prime Minister announced India's aggressive agenda on climate change through the Panch Amrit action plan which envisages India becoming a net zero emission country by 2070.

The LCCM programme launched on Monday, seeks to not only identify hundreds of climate leaders but also focus on how these leaders can be oriented in terms of their training and how will they more forward," Puri pointed out. Kunal Kumar, joint secretary in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs said that India has already initiated moves to achieve climate change goals through various missions.

"We have already started on this journey through various missions of the government of India, including the smart cities mission. MoHUA in collaboration with the French Development Authority (FDA), European Union and NIUA, launched the initiative City Investment to Innovate, Integrate and Sustain (CITIIS) as an urban innovation mechanism," said Kumar.