State and City Climate Action: GCAS India Forum

City and state leaders have emerged as integral actors in working to achieve India’s climate targets under the Paris Agreement. India’s progress on renewable energy, energy efficiency and climate resilience will be the focus of the High-Level Forum on India Climate Actions, an official affiliate event at the 2018 Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS).

The India Forum will be held on September 12, 2018 in San Francisco. Sessions will focus on India’s existing and upcoming initiatives including the National Solar Mission, energy conservation building codes, the National Clean Air Program, and the National Cooling Action Plan. In addition, the forum will also address topics such as heat action plans, electric mobility, energy access, and climate resilience financing, among others.

Leading state and city officials as well as civil society and business groups will preview announcements that will be made during GCAS later in the week. The forum offers a unique opportunity highlight progress on state and city climate action, as well as initiatives planned for the future.

Leading States and Cities from India

• The State of Gujarat and city of Ahmedabad are pioneers in building climate resilience from extreme heat and tackling air pollution, as well as ushering in solar energy and cool roofs focused on vulnerable communities.
• The State of Karnataka and city of Bangalore are home to India’s technology giants and have made great strides to advance electric mobility, sustainable infrastructure and clean energy access.
• The State of Maharashtra and cities of Mumbai, Nagpur and Pune are leaders on regional heat action plans, electric mobility, wind energy and curbing air pollution. 
• The state of Telangana and its high-tech capital Hyderabad are on the forefront of energy efficiency in buildings, cools roofs, heat action plans, electric vehicles, solar energy and urban sanitation.   
• The state of Tamil Nadu and city of Chennai are leaders in massive solar parks and wind farms, and health-based efforts to increase air pollution monitoring.

In addition, businesses such as Mahindra & Mahindra, SOM, Jacobs and others will also be participating in the forum and presenting their climate actions. Mahindra for example, is aiming to ramp up climate action through CEO Anand Mahindra’s pledge to fully implement the Paris Agreement. Mahindra, a GCAS co-chair, is also urging global business leaders to join more than 330 other companies that have already set science-based climate targets.

To share international experiences, key leaders such as Chair Mary Nichols from the California Air Resources Board will discuss California’s experience with reducing air pollution and emissions while growing one of the fastest economies in the world. Other international leaders will also discuss building resilient communities and clean energy expansion.

The forum will provide an excellent press opportunity for participants, attendees, businesses, non-governmental organizations and academics to detail their support for climate actions in India.

The event is being organized by partners The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), and US-India Business Council (USIBC). Forum co-chairs are Srinivas Chary of ASCI, Lauren Diekman of USIBC, Anjali Jaiswal of NRDC, Ajay Mathur of TERI, and Reemaben Nanavaty of SEWA.

To attend, RSVP here. Space is limited.