April 30, 2025

Current Affairs

India’s Urban Future is at Crossroads

Context: India's urban governance needs urgent reform to effectively implement SDG-11, i.e., to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

Relevance of the Topic: Mains: Limitations in current urban governance and planning frameworks.

Urbanisation: Double-edged sword

India is undergoing an unprecedented urban transformation, with more than 30% of its population residing in cities.
However, Urbanisation is a double-edged sword. While it brings economic opportunities and development, it also exacerbates environmental degradation, congestion, pollution, and social inequalities.
E.g., the recent crisis in cities like Bengaluru and Hyderabad indicate, water shortages, power deficits, and extreme heat are no longer seasonal anomalies but signs of systemic fragility.
The 2023 Annual Survey of Indian City Systems by Janaagraha revealed that only 16 cities had a city sustainability plan, and just 17 had a resilience strategy. This highlights the foundational work still required to align urban governance with SDG-11.

The 2025 report by the Sustainable Futures Collective titled- ‘Is India Ready for a Warming World?’ notes serious gaps in long-term urban climate planning.

Limitations in Existing Indices

Inadequate SDG-11 Tracking: NITI Aayog’s SDG Urban Index ranks 56 cities on 77 indicators. But its SDG-11 component is limited to four indicators: Swachh Survekshan, road deaths, PMAY-U housing, and waste treatment. It excludes critical aspects like climate resilience, social inclusivity, and urban safety.
Fragmented Assessment Tools: Ease of Living Index covers 111 cities but lacks a dedicated SDG-11 framework. International indices (e.g., Mercer, Economist) often fail to capture localised Indian realities.
Policy-Research Gap: The absence of city-specific data and disaggregated indicators inhibits targeted policymaking and the identification of urban stress zones.

The absence of a focused SDG-11 index hinders policymakers from identifying genuinely safe, sustainable, and inclusive cities, creating a policy-research gap. To bridge this gap, a new research initiative was undertaken.

The New Research Initiative

The research initiative constructed four separate indices aligned with the pillars of SDG-11: safety, inclusivity, sustainability, and resilience.
Ten major Indian cities: Hyderabad, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, and Surat were ranked across selected indicators.
These included 9 indicators for safety, 19 for inclusivity, and 15 for sustainability and resilience each.
Data sources included Census 2011, the Road Transport Yearbook, Indian Forest Survey, NCRB, PLFS, NFHS-5, RBI statistics, IMD Climatological Tables, and Ola Mobility Institute's 2022 Ease of Moving Index.
A multi-criteria decision-making model, the Shannon Entropy Weighting Technique, was used to ensure objectivity in assigning weights to the indicators.

Key Findings from the Study

Many cities regarded as front-runners by NITI Aayog performed poorly in this assessment, exposing the shortcomings of existing indices. For instance, disparities in the inclusivity index underscored uneven access to economic and social opportunities.
Safety rankings highlighted differences in law enforcement efficacy and crime prevention.
Sustainability scores revealed gaps in pollution control and waste management, while resilience rankings exposed weaknesses in disaster preparedness and recovery planning.

Way Forward

Cities must establish better mechanisms for tracking SDG-11 at the urban local body (ULB) level. While some States and Union Territories have adopted district-level monitoring frameworks, urban local bodies must follow suit.
Integrated Command and Control Centres, developed under the Smart Cities Mission, should be leveraged to collect real-time data and enhance urban planning and development processes.
As almost one-third of urban residents are poor, addressing their needs is critical. India still relies on Census 2011 data, leading to severe underestimation of urban poverty. A periodic Urban Poor Quality of Living Survey at the State level is necessary to bridge this gap.
Each city (small and large) faces unique challenges, requiring localised governance, better planning, and city-specific strategies.

Addressing these differences through data-backed, city-specific policies is crucial for a more equitable urban future.

Greenhouse Gases Emissions Intensity Target Rules 2025

Context: The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) notified draft Greenhouse Gases Emissions Intensity (GEI) Target Rules 2025. The rules introduce targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by “obligated entities” in energy-intensive sectors and industries.

Relevance of the Topic: Prelims & Mains: Greenhouse Gases Emissions Intensity (GEI) Target Rules, 2025.

The draft rules mark a critical development in India’s climate policy and its ongoing commitment to the Paris Agreement.
They lay the foundation for operationalising the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), 2023, by setting specific emission intensity reduction targets for high-emission industries.

What is Greenhouse Gas Emissions Intensity (GEI)?

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Intensity refers to the amount of GHG emissions per unit of product output.
It is measured in tCO₂e (tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent) per equivalent unit of output, taking into account all major greenhouse gases, such as: Carbon dioxide (CO₂), Methane (CH₄), Nitrous oxide (N₂O), Ozone (O₃), Fluorinated gases like CFCs and HCFCs.
The aim is to assess and reduce emissions without necessarily lowering total production, thus enabling sustainable economic growth.

Key Features of the Draft GEI Target Rules, 2025:

1. Coverage and Scope:

GHG intensity reduction targets and benchmarks have been set for the highly energy-intensive aluminium, chlor-alkali, pulp and paper, and cement industries.
Applicable to over 280 industrial units across four energy-intensive sectors : Aluminium plants, Cement plants, Pulp and Paper plants, Chlor-alkali plants.
Among the large corporations that have been assigned targets under the rules are: Vedanta, Hindalco, Bharat Aluminium, JSW Cement, Ultratech, Nalco, JK Cement, Dalmia Cement, Shree Cement, Grasim Industries, and JK Paper.

2. Baseline and Targets:

The Rules set forth baseline emissions for 2023-24 and define gradual reduction targets for the years 2025-26 and 2026-27 as part of the mechanism to make India’s Carbon Credits Trading Scheme, 2023, operational.
The Rules also lay down the compliance mechanism for industries to comply with these targets, and specify penalties for their failure to do so.

3. Integration with Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS):

GEI targets define the emissions reduction goal for each industry. If an industry reduces its emissions intensity below the target, it earns carbon credits. These credits can be traded on the Indian Carbon Market, offering a financial incentive for industries to adopt clean technology.
Industries that fail to meet their targets must either buy carbon credits to offset the shortfall or face penalties imposed by the Central Pollution Control Board.
The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) oversees this trading process under the Ministry of Power. This system is based on international models like the Kyoto Protocol’s carbon market (Article 17) and similar schemes running in Europe and China.

The draft Rules make carbon trading operational by setting the standards that industries must meet to earn, sell, or buy carbon credits, thus turning climate responsibility into an economic opportunity. Targets have been set for the reduction of GHG emissions intensity for the first time.

Why are these rules important?

Meet India’s climate goals: To push industries towards a low-carbon growth trajectory through reduction, removal or avoidance of GHG emissions. E.g., use of biomass in cement kilns.
Meet India’s commitment under the Paris Agreement: To reduce the emissions intensity of its gross domestic product (the amount of energy used per unit of GDP) by 45% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.

The draft GEI Target Rules, 2025, are a significant move towards operationalising India’s carbon market and achieving its climate goals.

Changes in Monsoon affect Marine Productivity

Context: A recent study has found that both strong and weak monsoons can influence (disrupt) marine productivity in the Bay of Bengal. This can pose serious ecological and livelihood challenges.

Relevance of the Topic: Prelims: Impacts of Climate Change.

Major Highlights of the Study

The researchers reconstructed the past 22,000 years of monsoon history by comparing ancient patterns (chemical signatures and fossil records) with modern ocean data and climate model projections.

Extreme monsoon conditions (abnormally strong or weak monsoons) cause major disruptions in ocean mixing. They interfere with the vertical movement of nutrient-rich waters from the deep ocean to the surface.
Consequences: This can lead to a 50% reduction in food for marine life (like planktons) in the surface waters. This will directly result in decline in the growth of plankton, and thus, impact the entire aquatic food chain.

Significance and Impacts on the Bay of Bengal:

Significance: Despite covering less than 1% of the world’s ocean area, the Bay of Bengal accounts for 8% of global fishery production. Its nutrient-rich coastal waters are vital to the densely populated communities along its shores, many of whom rely heavily on fisheries for food and income.
Impacts: If ocean productivity declines, it will powerfully affect the ecosystem, ultimately reducing fish stocks. This in turn will threaten food security for coastal communities and risk their livelihoods.

The study is significant given that several climate models warn of significant disruption to the monsoon, under the impact of human-caused global warming.