Telangana inaugurates State Climate Centre for Cities, launches Urban Climate Atlas
Telangana launched the State Climate Centre for Cities to strengthen climate-responsive urban planning across Urban Local Bodies. The Centre will support climate-risk assessments, action plans and budgeting, while the Telangana Urban Climate Atlas will help officials map vulnerabilities and prioritise investments.
Hyderabad: The Telangana government on Thursday inaugurated the State Climate Centre for Cities to strengthen climate-responsive urban planning and accelerate sustainable development across Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in the State.
The Centre is an institutional initiative established under the City Investments to Innovate, Integrate and Sustain (CITIIS) 2.0 programme. It has been set up within the office of the Commissioner and Director of Municipal Administration (CDMA).
Its mandate includes climate data management, greenhouse gas emissions, climate-risk and vulnerability assessments, including heat islands and urban flooding, climate action planning, capacity building, and integration of climate considerations into urban policies, infrastructure projects and municipal decision-making.
A key task of the Centre will be to support climate action plans for ULBs and consolidate them into an Integrated State Climate Action Plan. It will also support climate-responsive budgeting by helping ULBs identify climate-related expenditure and align proposed investments with State and city climate priorities.
The Telangana Urban Climate Atlas, a digital platform designed to present spatial information on urban climate risks and vulnerabilities, was also launched on the occasion. By enabling municipal officials to visualise climate risks spatially, the Atlas will support evidence-based planning, identification of vulnerable areas, prioritisation of investments and development of locally appropriate climate actions, officials said.
