Asia is home to more than 60% of the world’s population, about half of whom live in cities and towns, a recent report noted.
With climate change is largely driven by urban centres, Vice President Naidu called upon governments across the continent to build climate resilient communities.
Cities need to take the lead in the transition to a low-carbon economy, particularly in emerging economies in Asia, noted that Vice President of India.
Urban centres account for two-thirds of global energy demand and 70% of carbon emissions and urbanization is expected to reach 67% globally by 2050. It is extremely crucial to link every aspect of urbanization with sustainability by making solutions such as harvesting solar energy an essential part of town planning.
The VP noted that addressing the 4th Resilient Cities Asia-Pacific (RCAP) Congress 2019, organized by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI).
Global warming – a serious issue
In remarks reported by the Press Information Bureau of India, the VP stated that global warming is likely to reach 1.5C between 2030 and 2052 if it continues to increase at the current rate.
Globally, if we continue with our current development trajectory, we are certain to breach the 1.5C mark in the coming 30 years.
This increase in global temperature is likely to result in an increase in mean temperature over most land and ocean regions, hot extremes in most inhabited regions, heavy precipitation in several regions and the probability of drought and precipitation deficits in some regions. Future climate-related risks can be reduced by upscaling climate mitigation measures.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 45% before 2030 – as demanded by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – is achievable if countries increase the share of renewables in their energy mix, improve energy efficiency and decarbonize sectors including transport and heating and cooling.
India on target
Stressing climate change is the most important challenge confronting all nations, the Indian VP said India is now one of the global leaders in addressing the challenge head-on.
As recently announced at the 24th Conference of Parties on Climate Change, in Katowice, Poland, India is well on its way to achieving our stated Nationally Determined Contributions.
India had set an ambitious target of deploying 175 GW of renewable power capacity by 2022 and doubled down on that ambition last year.
This target is now further raised to 227 GW of renewable energy capacity, considering that we are well on our way to exceeding the previously set target.
IoT innovation accelerator launched
The accelerator was established for AgriTech, CleanTech, CivicTech and HealthTech startups looking to use IoT to solve India’s critical challenges, a report noted.
This year, with a focus on technology start-ups who are developing innovative IoT solutions for AgriTech, CleanTech, CivicTech and HealthTech, one of India’s premier incubators is partnering with an American multinational technology conglomerate on the first edition of the IoT Innovation Accelerator programme.
By 2020, the world will see more than 34 billion devices connected to the internet, of which 24 billion will account for IoT-connected devices.
The incubator believes this will herald the next industrial revolution and is on the lookout for 10 start-ups who can solve critical issues in India using emerging technologies.
Thus, it is apparent that India’s public and private agencies are working to equip that nation’s population with the tools they need to keep pace with the digital world and meet the challenges of climate change.
