New Delhi: The environment department has prepared a draft Delhi State Action Plan on Climate Change (SPACC) 2.0, which has been submitted to the Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change for approval. The last such plan came into force in 2019 and was based on the data up to 2011.Officials said the new plan incorporated updated climate science, recent data sets and district-level vulnerability assessments while defining sector-specific mitigation and adaptation actions with measurable targets up to 2030. The city has been witnessing extreme weather events.“SAPCC 1.0 served as Delhi’s foundational climate framework aligned with National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), focusing on sectoral assessments, greenhouse gas inventories, and broad mitigation and adaptation strategies,” an official said. “In contrast, SAPCC 2.0 is more comprehensive, action-oriented and aligned with national and global climate commitments, including India’s updated Nationally Determined Contributions, Sustainable Development Goals, Paris Agreement and Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy,” he added.The revised plan strengthens institutional governance through enhanced monitoring and evaluation systems, climate finance mechanisms, including green budgeting, and innovative financing approaches for effective implementation. It will also align with Global Biodiversity Framework under Convention on Biological Diversity, and SAPCC 2.0 integrates ecosystem restoration, urban afforestation, wetland conservation and nature-based solutions into climate action, said an official.“Key priorities include urban afforestation initiatives such as the development of city forests and plantation drives like the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ campaign and sustainable land-use planning. These measures contribute towards broader biodiversity goals, while embedding nature-based solutions into urban planning, water resource management and climate adaptation strategies,” said officials.Centre launched the first National Action Plan on Climate Change in 2008 and states prepared their own action plans considering the strategies proposed in the national plan. The ministry directed states to revise their action plans.Delhi’s first SPACC was launched in 2019 with the environment department announcing in 2023 to revise it with the latest data and changing climate pattern.A research, titled ‘Lethal heatwaves are challenging India’s sustainable development’, which was released in 2023, found that 100% of the city was at ‘danger’ heat index levels against Delhi govt’s assessment that south Delhi and northeast Delhi were the most vulnerable to climate change impacts. The research said heatwaves would critically hamper progress in implementing sustainable development goals on the urban scale.
