CLIMATE CHANGE GOVERNANCE IN INDIA: MAPPING THEROLE OF THE CITIESBhaskar Gogoi and Jayanta Krishna SarmahAbstract Cities are at the forefront of climate action as never before: they concentrate risk but alsoprovide opportunitiesto innovate. Situated at the crossroads of extensive urbanization, unequal development, andhigh climatevulnerability, Indian cities face an urgent imperative to governance to current and projectedclimate changeimpacts. While the poor and marginalised who live in multidimensional poverty and face acute deprivationbear the brunt of the consequences. Climate change not only exacerbates their existing inequalities, but alsoleads to disproportionate sharing of climate change risks, necessitating a shift from mere climate changemitigation to climate change adaptation and recognition that the involvement of all government levels,particularly local governments, has become a sine qua non for climate change adaptation to work becausethe impacts of climate change are manifestly local. This article argues that Indian urban localgovernmentsmust occupy a definitive role in the Indian multi-lateral climate change governance framework.It arguesthat despite the important role played by urban local governments in combating climate changethroughadaptation strategies, multi-level governance framework is completely skewed in favour of thedominantand decisive role played by national and state governments. This article examines the role of Indian citiesin climate change and scrutinizes the multi-level governance. |