Applying a data-driven approach to assess greenhouse gas mitigation potential in urban India: Learnings from Surat, Ujjain, and Indore

Despite having just over one-third of the total population, cities contribute around two-thirds of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) and are growing rapidly. As urbanization accelerates, urban emissions are set to exacerbate. Thus, it is important that cities, particularly growing Tier 2 cities, implement a data-driven approach to better quantify their mitigation potential. However, limited availability and awareness of data requirements and tools for developing GHG inventories and long-term GHG mitigation scenarios have created mitigation plans without robust, time-bound targets and strategies. This has further led to siloed actions that lack interdepartmental coordination and limited quantitative data on sectoral mitigation potential.

This paper uses the Climate Action for Urban Sustainability (CURB) tool, an open-source tool developed by the World Bank to understand the challenges and enabling factors affecting scenario development and target setting for climate mitigation in the three Indian cities of Surat, Indore, and Ujjain.

A few key highlights from the working paper include-

• Grid decarbonization, solar photovoltaic systems in residential buildings, a Mode Shift toward public transport, and wastewater treatment with gas capture demonstrated the highest potential for mitigation across the three cities.
• Strengthening institutional and financial structures, and building a robust monitoring, evaluation, and verification framework are crucial for supporting data-driven mitigation actions in cities

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