New Delhi: According to a report released by green energy policy network REN2, only 13 Indian cities have set targets or have a policy in place to adopt renewable energy. This in comparison to the 1,300 cities globally. The cities in India that aim to embrace green energy include Delhi, Bengaluru, Gurgaon, Nagpur, Chennai, Diu, Pune, Ahmadabad, Amaravati, Rajkot, Karimnagar, and Kolkata.

Three Indian cities have set net-zero targets for 2050; Kolkata, Chennai and Delhi and the 13 cities together cover 67.6 million people which amounts to 18 per cent of the population.

It may be noted that a few Indian cities have been faring badly in pollution index with Delhi being on top. Many cities across the world have been planning for net-zero targets meaning balancing the emitted greenhouse gases with equivalent emissions that are either offset or sequestered.

Experts say that India is still lagging in declaring a complete or partial ban on fossil fuels. The ban on diesel and gas could go a long way achieving targets. It may be noted that 43 cities across the world had enforced a complete or partial ban on fossil fuels.

With migration from rural to urban happening at a fast pace, the number of people living in cities is going to go up several notches. Presently, one-quarter of the global population lives in cities. As per the 2011 census, 31% of the Indian population lived in urban areas.

“But as inspiring as these examples are, we are still a far cry from what is needed to curb climate change in time,” REN21’s executive director Rana Adib in a statement.

Cities are high-impact areas: they are home to more than 55% of the global population and account for around three-quarters of global final energy consumption.

Key Findings

• By the end of 2020, more than 1 billion people – about 25% of the urban population – live in a city with a renewable energy target and/or policy. A total of 1,300 cities – from the Americas to Sub-Saharan Africa – have demonstrated leadership in advancing renewables, with some municipal governments pushing for higher ambition and more rapid change than at the national level.
• City governments in more than 830 cities in 72 countries had set renewable energy targets in at least one sector (power, heating and cooling, and/or transport). Over 610 of these cities had set 100% renewable energy targets. Despite this momentum on target-setting, data challenges remain related to tracking progress and identifying the scope of application.
• Around 800 municipal governments had implemented regulatory policies, financial and fiscal incentives and indirect support policies to enable the uptake of renewables in buildings and transport city-wide. Contrary to national-level trends, city-level policy portfolios are expanding rapidly beyond the power sector, reflecting increasing urban efforts to decarbonise also heating and cooling and transport.
• More than 10,500 cities globally had adopted CO2 emission reduction targets, and around 800 cities have committed to net-zero emissions by 2020 – up sharply from the 100 cities with such commitments in 2019. Such targets have created opportunities to deploy energy efficiency and accelerate the supply and use of renewable energy.
• There has been growing citizen pressure on different levels of government to act on climate change. As a result, 1,852 cities in 29 countries had declared climate emergencies by 2020 (up from around 1,400 by the end of 2019). At least 231 municipal governments had submitted a climate action plan alongside their declaration, some of which have been used to support renewable energy deployment.