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environmental disaster due to global warming and climate change. Immediate and
robust actions are needed to stabilize emissions in a justified manner. Growing
understanding of the science and consequences of the global warming phenomena,
and consequent concerns about the need to prevent disastrous climate change, have
led to a substantive action in the form of ratification of the Kyoto Protocol (UNFCCC
1997), which recommended important reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases
(GHGs)—namely, carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O), perfluorocarbons, and hydrofluorocarbons. The gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol
are referred to collectively as “Kyoto gases” (WRI/WBCSD 2004, 2005, 2006). The
World Bank (2007) has reported that among all GHG emissions, CO 2 is the principal gas that leads to global warming and climate change, and about 80% of it comes
from the energy sector (Akpan and Akpan 2012). The industrialization era transformed agricultural societies into nonagricultural societies, creating modernized
societies and leading to urbanization. The urban population of the world grew rapidly from 751 million in 1950 to 4.2 billion in 2018, by which time it was estimated
that more than half the world’s population (55%) now lived in urban areas, accounting for up to 70% of production, consumption, energy consumption, and CO 2 emissions. Three developing countries—India, China, and Nigeria—are together
expected to account for 35% of the global projected urban population growth
between 2018 and 2050 (United Nations Department of Economic and Social
Affairs, Population Division 2018).
The carbon footprint is a process of measuring and determining the amount of
various greenhouse gases that impact on the global environment due to anthropogenic activities (Lenzen and Dey 2000; Wiedmann and Minx 2008; Carbon Trust
2007a, b). The CO 2 equivalent (CO 2 e) is a unit used for comparing the radiative
forcing of a GHG with that of CO 2 ; i.e., it states how many units of emitted CO 2 one
unit of that GHG equates to, in terms of its global warming impact, when emitted
into the atmosphere (ISO 2006a, b; Carbon Trust 2007a, b).
6.2 Methods
6.2.1 Study Area
The selected study area was the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), a metropolitan city in West Bengal state in eastern India. It is a highly urbanized city with
a large population. KMC extends from 22°30′28″N to 22°37′20″N (latitude) and
from 88°17′50″E to 88°23′45″E (longitude) in the southern part of the Kolkata
Metropolitan Area (KMA). KMC has 141 wards, divided into 15 boroughs, and
covers an area of 187.33 km
2
(Census of India 2011). accounts for 11.07% of the
total KMA area and 35.15% of the total KMA population.
Rukhsana and Md. F. Molla
environmental disaster due to global warming and climate change. Immediate and
robust actions are needed to stabilize emissions in a justified manner. Growing
understanding of the science and consequences of the global warming phenomena,
and consequent concerns about the need to prevent disastrous climate change, have
led to a substantive action in the form of ratification of the Kyoto Protocol (UNFCCC
1997), which recommended important reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases
(GHGs)—namely, carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O), perfluorocarbons, and hydrofluorocarbons. The gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol
are referred to collectively as “Kyoto gases” (WRI/WBCSD 2004, 2005, 2006). The
World Bank (2007) has reported that among all GHG emissions, CO 2 is the principal gas that leads to global warming and climate change, and about 80% of it comes
from the energy sector (Akpan and Akpan 2012). The industrialization era transformed agricultural societies into nonagricultural societies, creating modernized
societies and leading to urbanization. The urban population of the world grew rapidly from 751 million in 1950 to 4.2 billion in 2018, by which time it was estimated
that more than half the world’s population (55%) now lived in urban areas, accounting for up to 70% of production, consumption, energy consumption, and CO 2 emissions. Three developing countries—India, China, and Nigeria—are together
expected to account for 35% of the global projected urban population growth
between 2018 and 2050 (United Nations Department of Economic and Social
Affairs, Population Division 2018).
The carbon footprint is a process of measuring and determining the amount of
various greenhouse gases that impact on the global environment due to anthropogenic activities (Lenzen and Dey 2000; Wiedmann and Minx 2008; Carbon Trust
2007a, b). The CO 2 equivalent (CO 2 e) is a unit used for comparing the radiative
forcing of a GHG with that of CO 2 ; i.e., it states how many units of emitted CO 2 one
unit of that GHG equates to, in terms of its global warming impact, when emitted
into the atmosphere (ISO 2006a, b; Carbon Trust 2007a, b).
6.2 Methods
6.2.1 Study Area
The selected study area was the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), a metropolitan city in West Bengal state in eastern India. It is a highly urbanized city with
a large population. KMC extends from 22°30′28″N to 22°37′20″N (latitude) and
from 88°17′50″E to 88°23′45″E (longitude) in the southern part of the Kolkata
Metropolitan Area (KMA). KMC has 141 wards, divided into 15 boroughs, and
covers an area of 187.33 km
2
(Census of India 2011). accounts for 11.07% of the
total KMA area and 35.15% of the total KMA population.
Rukhsana and Md. F. Molla