Implications of Climate Targets at a Local Level: The Study of Mumbai Metropolitan Region, India

Abstract

Paris agreement’s 2°C target has set a goal for the entire World to reduce emissions. Simultaneously, the countries which are a party to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are also required to set voluntary national climate targets to reduce emissions. For achieving these targets, mitigations efforts have to be made at every possible level, especially from the metropolitan cities as they are the prominent source of emissions. This raises the requirement of elucidating the meaning of climate targets at local levels. In this context, the present study tries to interpret the global and national targets at the level of a metropolitan region and quantify the amount of emission reduction required. Mumbai Metropolitan Region in India was studied for this purpose. Paris Agreement’s 2°C target as a global target and India’s climate target defined in its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions as the national target were studied. These climate targets were translated into emission budgets for Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Comparing these with Mumbai Metropolitan Region’s emission forecast showed that it requires a 16.8% reduction to meet the national target while a 40% to 47% reduction to meet the global target. The results are significant for policy makers and planners to design focused mitigation policies and support national efforts to govern climate change.