BMC unveils seminal groundbreaking Climate Budget Report in commemoration of World Environment Day

The climate budgeting initiative in Mumbai, a landmark initiative by the 1st municipal corporation in India and 4th globally, aims to embed climate commitments into policymaking, actions, and budget allocation. It involves integrating targets from the Mumbai Climate Action Plan (MCAP) into the city's financial planning, with clear responsibilities for implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting across municipal departments. The MCAP, published by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), outlines strategies for making Mumbai net-zero by 2050, and resilient to climate change, aligning with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The report addresses key climate risks related to Mumbai namely urban heat, flooding, land & coastal risks and air pollution. Some of the major goals and targets set under MCAP include:

1. In the domain of Energy & Buildings, the BMC aims to shift Mumbai & electricity generation mix towards renewable sources. By 2030, the target is to have 50% of the total grid electricity sourced from renewables, with an ambitious goal of reaching 90% by 2050
2. Electrification is another core area with 100% electrification of buses, two-wheelers, taxis and autorickshaws by 2050, 70% electrification of passenger automobiles by 2040
3. Sustainable Waste Management is prioritised, with a target of 50% reduced waste disposed to landfill sites by 2050
4. In addressing air quality concerns, the BMC aims to curb the pollution concentration by 20% - 30% versus 2019 baseline

As a participant in the C40 Cities's climate budget pilot program, Mumbai has incorporated climate budgeting into its operational framework. Over 20 departments within the BMC are engaged in this initiative, with leadership provided by the Environment department. About 32.18% (approx. INR 10,000 crores) of the capital budget expenditure aligns directly with MCAP while 6.81% (approx. INR 2,000 crores) is for activities that indirectly incorporate the components of MCAP.

The Environmental Department has formulated a range of action plans aimed at fostering a beneficial impact on the climate. These are broadly bifurcated into Direct Actions and Enabling Actions. Direct Actions are further divided into Quantified and Not Quantified. The former includes undertaking activities that are directly linked to greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction. E.g. Solid Waste Management at Deonar Dumping ground and installation of solar panel systems at various peripheral hospitals.

Not Quantified Activities (NQA) are planned actions that contribute to long-term climate action e.g. improving the city's service delivery and infrastructure systems to increase its resistance to climate threats and set the stage for future emission reductions. Enabling actions are acts taken at the institutional level by different departments to create policies that are targeted and forward-thinking in terms of climate change. To promote climate innovation, also entails supporting external expertise and research.

The key climate mitigation measures outlined by BMC include:

1. Development of Waste to Energy (WTE) Project at the Deonar Dumping Ground
2. Provision of toilets in all wards
3. Facilities of Hydro Electric Power Plant & Floating Solar PV Power Project are being developed at the Vaitarna Dam
4. Setting up Organic Waste Convertors for waste disposal of 64 municipal market buildings
5. Setting up Automated Air Quality Monitoring (AQM&R) laboratories and mobile vans
6. Existing drains are being widened to increase their carrying capacity
7. Implementing rehabilitation of sewer lines, rehabilitation of rising mains at pumping stations, and systematic cleaning of sewer lines

The report adeptly dispels misconceptions and presents factual information that shall serve as an eye-opener for both the city's residents as well as a global audience. The report enumerates and expatiates the climate change mitigation measures that shall be carried out by the BMC. The budget provides a detailed insight into the impact of climate measures from various cross-sectoral dimensions and significant actions to be taken despite the population growth.

Though the civic body has outlined a very detailed, one-of-its-kind plan to curb the climate-based deterioration in the city, a solid tangible execution plan for the targets set shall be imperative to achieve the desired transition.

A periodic progress report, entailing a finer picture of the state of the city in terms of the plan of actions undertaken will provide greater transparency and accountability, thus enabling the stakeholders to better gauge the progress made since the introduction of MCAP.

CareEdge-ESG further believes these reports should be assessed and assured to impart more credibility to the performance data. This will also help BMC visualise the progress and process better and thus take more calibrated efforts to tweak the action plan according to the criticality of the situation.

“Being the commercial capital of the country, Mumbai certainly needed a comprehensive plan of action to combat the effects of rapid urbanisation and climate change. The targets and initiatives exemplified in the Climate Budget Report by BMC shall enable Mumbai to leapfrog in terms of transparency of climate data, accountability and sustainability.”

-Rohit Inamdar, CEO - CareEdge-ESG Ratings

“For a global city like Mumbai, where 35% of the population resides in flood-prone areas & has a high per capita emission intensity of 1.8 tCO2 , such thematic study conducted by BMC is of pivotal importance to draw the attention to the most imperative areas of concern and create a path for sustainable development of the financial and commercial capital of India.”

-Deepak Prajapati, Chief Rating Officer, CareEdge-ESG Ratings