IE Thinc session today: How to deal with climate change in coastal cities - The Indian Express

IE Thinc session today: How to deal with climate change in coastal cities | India News - The Indian Express

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IE Thinc session today: How to deal with climate change in coastal cities

The seminar will feature a keynote address on “Urban planning in the era of climate change” by Dr Palanivel Thiaga Rajan (PTR), Minister for Information Technology & Digital Services, Tamil Nadu

Up and down the country, Indian cities are increasingly facing challenges related to urbanisation as well as climate change. But nowhere are these two sets of concerns more alarming than in coastal cities such as Chennai.

Climate change is not only raising temperatures at an alarming rate but also making incidence of rainfall more erratic and cyclonic storms more frequent. Cities are failing to adapt to such environmental changes through better urban planning.

Indeed, many experts believe unchecked and often ill-conceived construction is equally responsible for cities such as Chennai routinely complaining of both floods as well as lack of drinking water all at the same time.

In June 2023, the Tamil Nadu government launched Chennai’s first Climate Action Plan (CAP), making it the second Indian city to have a Paris Agreement-aligned CAP. How is this changing urban planning in Chennai? What lessons can the rest of the country, especially the coastal cities, learn from Chennai’s example? What more needs to be done to ensure India’s coastal cities can deal with climate change?

These will be some key questions discussed in the second edition of The Indian Express’s THINC: CITIES seminar series, presented by Omidyar Network India, to be organised in Chennai on Monday.

The seminar will feature a keynote address on “Urban planning in the era of climate change” by Dr Palanivel Thiaga Rajan (PTR), Minister for Information Technology & Digital Services, Tamil Nadu. It will be followed by a fireside chat on “Resilient urban planning for vulnerable regions” with K Chandru, retired judge, Madras High Court. Finally, there will be a panel discussion on whether cities are taking proactive steps to tackle climate change.

The panel of experts will feature Anshul Mishra, IAS and Member Secretary of Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), Anant Maringanti, Executive Director, Hyderabad Urban Lab, D Raghunandan, Project Lead, Inhale ClimACT-Chennai, and Sabareesh Suresh, Manager, Climate Action Implementation, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Inc.

The seminar will be moderated by Udit Misra, Associate Editor, The Indian Express.

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