Need to alter development paradigm to reach resilient climate development, says Vice President

There is a need to change the development paradigm and aim for a climate resilient development, moving away from traditional metrics, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu Monday said. Address the fourth Asia Pacific Forum on Urban Resilience and Adaptation that began here on Monday, he said, "The new urban infrastructure should be low-carbon, green and climate resilient."

In a series of tweets, Naidu also emphasised that climate vulnerability and its likely impacts should be factored in all development strategies. The three-day event is being hosted by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation in association with UN (ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability).

This event is being organised in India for the first time and 31 countries are taking part in this programme that was inaugurated by the vice president, the SDMC said in a statement. "We need to change our development paradigm and aim for climate resilient development, moving away from traditional metrics of measuring development. The new urban infrastructure should be low-carbon, green and climate resilient," Naidu tweeted.

He urged all city, province and country representatives to adopt various multi-dimensional and innovative approaches, as a part of their endeavour to achieve the United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development, to ensure low emissions oriented development. "The need of the hour is to encourage green infrastructure, enable a circular economy and promote resource efficiency to achieve climate resilient urban development," Naidu said in another tweet.

The Resilient Cities Asia Pacific (RCAP) Congress 2019 is offering cities and regions from Asia-Pacific a variety of innovative solutions that build resilience to climate change at the sub-national level. "The outcomes of the RCAP 2019 will be presented in the NDC Conference to be held in Berlin in June this year," the SDMC statement said, adding about 200 participants, including at least 50 mayors from different cities in the region are participating in the forum.

Besides, representatives of international organisations such as the UNEP, UNDP, UN-HABITAT, UNESCAP, UNISDR, UNIDO are also present in the event. Bilateral and multilateral funding agencies such as SDC, EU, IDRC, World Bank, ADB, GIZ, Rockefeller Foundation, OECD, and others are also attending the event, the SDMC said.

(With inputs from agencies.)