2 Role of Cities in Climate Change
The role of cities in climate change is much debated. Cities are often blamed for
contributing to the climate change that is hot enough to melt ice caps, change the
precipitation mix to more rain, and possibly less snow, raise sea levels, and increase
the frequency of severe storms. To the extent cities promote car use, urban sprawl is
also often associated with climate change.
On the other hand, cities are viewed as playing a positive role in mitigating the
negative impacts of climate change. The OECD is actively working with governments to highlight the role of cities to deliver cost-effective policy responses to
climate change. Given cities are centers of innovation; they have the potential to
advance clean energy systems, sustainable transportation, and waste management to
reduce greenhouse gases. A number of projects at the OECD are advancing the
understanding of the various roles that cities can play to respond to more efficiently
and effectively to climate change.
Much of the risk is concentrated among low-income households, as described by
Aromar Revi for India and Patricia Romero-Lankao for Latin America. The cities
most at risk, as pointed by Sattherwaite (2007), are those which are
• least able to avoid the direct or indirect impacts because of their location—on
the coast, by rivers or where cyclones or hurricanes are common;
• likely to be most affected by the impacts because of their physical form—poor
quality buildings, and lack of water supply, and storm drainage infrastructure,
which are likely to be inhabited by poorer residents;
• least able to cope with the impacts due to a lack of local government capacity
and funding to rebuild or repair damage, restore services, and support households to rebuild homes and livelihoods.
The urban populations most at risk, as Sattherwaite (2007) points out, are:
• least able to avoid the direct or indirect impacts, because, for example, they live
in poor quality homes and in areas with inadequate drainage systems, and are
unable to move or change jobs if climate change threatens their livelihoods;
• most vulnerable to the impacts, such as infants and elderly people who are less
able to cope with heat waves or unable to flee quickly when a disaster is
imminent;
• least able to cope with illness, injury or premature death; or loss of income,
livelihood or property.
Urban centers contain a large proportion of the people most at risk from the
effects of climate change. Urban dwellers face the threat of damage to their livelihoods, property, quality of environment, and future prosperity: they suffer increasing
risks from storms, flooding, landslides, drought, and overloading of water, drainage
and energy supply systems. In this paper, I answer the question as to what the
Economic Impacts of Climate Change in India’s Cities
281
The role of cities in climate change is much debated. Cities are often blamed for
contributing to the climate change that is hot enough to melt ice caps, change the
precipitation mix to more rain, and possibly less snow, raise sea levels, and increase
the frequency of severe storms. To the extent cities promote car use, urban sprawl is
also often associated with climate change.
On the other hand, cities are viewed as playing a positive role in mitigating the
negative impacts of climate change. The OECD is actively working with governments to highlight the role of cities to deliver cost-effective policy responses to
climate change. Given cities are centers of innovation; they have the potential to
advance clean energy systems, sustainable transportation, and waste management to
reduce greenhouse gases. A number of projects at the OECD are advancing the
understanding of the various roles that cities can play to respond to more efficiently
and effectively to climate change.
Much of the risk is concentrated among low-income households, as described by
Aromar Revi for India and Patricia Romero-Lankao for Latin America. The cities
most at risk, as pointed by Sattherwaite (2007), are those which are
• least able to avoid the direct or indirect impacts because of their location—on
the coast, by rivers or where cyclones or hurricanes are common;
• likely to be most affected by the impacts because of their physical form—poor
quality buildings, and lack of water supply, and storm drainage infrastructure,
which are likely to be inhabited by poorer residents;
• least able to cope with the impacts due to a lack of local government capacity
and funding to rebuild or repair damage, restore services, and support households to rebuild homes and livelihoods.
The urban populations most at risk, as Sattherwaite (2007) points out, are:
• least able to avoid the direct or indirect impacts, because, for example, they live
in poor quality homes and in areas with inadequate drainage systems, and are
unable to move or change jobs if climate change threatens their livelihoods;
• most vulnerable to the impacts, such as infants and elderly people who are less
able to cope with heat waves or unable to flee quickly when a disaster is
imminent;
• least able to cope with illness, injury or premature death; or loss of income,
livelihood or property.
Urban centers contain a large proportion of the people most at risk from the
effects of climate change. Urban dwellers face the threat of damage to their livelihoods, property, quality of environment, and future prosperity: they suffer increasing
risks from storms, flooding, landslides, drought, and overloading of water, drainage
and energy supply systems. In this paper, I answer the question as to what the
Economic Impacts of Climate Change in India’s Cities
281