Climate Change | How climate change affects cities

Fighting erosion, climate change in the Sundarbans

The people of the Sundarbans show how they are the force of resilience, battling cyclones, and disrupted livelihoods. Adopting nature-based solutions, they use vetiver as a powerful natural tool to combat soil erosion and understand that protecting the streambanks from…

Margins to mainstream: Ambojwadi shows the way to climate vulnerability mapping

Among the most marginalised of informal settlements in Mumbai, Ambojwadi is a picture of climate crisis where heat stress and flooding exacerbate…

Research: How local communities can assert voice in mapping

Marginalised urban communities bear disproportionate impacts of climate change with heat stress, floods and so on, but they are hardly consulted in…

Singareni Colony’s story of localised climate mapping

Neighbourhoods in cities are distinctively shaped by terrain, built environment, typologies, social dynamics, politics, and historical and spatial contexts. As a result,…

Communities are central to climate plans and action

From advocacy work and campaigns against unsustainable development projects, especially in areas with marginalised populations, mapping the areas for climate vulnerability was…

‘Vulnerability mapping directly improves lives of those most affected by climate risks’

The devastation from floods, droughts and heat across India every year has heightened the need for effective strategies and adaptive measures. The…

How urban plans can, and must, value trees

Urban development plans and master plans have traditionally seen trees as impediments to ‘development’, rarely acknowledging them as natural wealth of cities…

Bad news for Earth: Hot leaves can’t catch carbon from air

Leafy canopies play a crucial role in regulating the global climate – and mitigating global warming. But, as a recent study shows, rising temperatures will severely affect the ability of tropical forests to photosynthesise. This, in turn, will hinder their…

Guwahati is fast axing its trees and undermining its future

Among Assam’s largest cities, Guwahati has turned into a huge construction site with a dwindling tree cover. The city lost 12 square…

‘Cutting trees has become as routine as buying stamps at post office’

Call them tree warriors or green crusaders. They are fighting the tough battle in cities across India – Dehradun, Delhi, Bengaluru –…