Mumbai, Aug 27 (IANS): Mumbai, the financial capital of the country - a high-risk city facing the recurring onslaught of extreme weather events, including cyclone - has become the first big city in India and South Asia to launch its Climate Action Plan.

Aimed at better future planning and growth, keeping in tune with climate adaptation, mitigation and resilience, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) is developing the Climate Action Plan to be completed after public consultation in two months' time.

Maharashtra Minister of Environment, Tourism and Protocol, Aaditya Thackeray, on Friday launched the Climate Action Plan and also the Mumbai Climate Action Plan (MCAP) website to seek suggestions and inputs from experts and citizens from the megacity. The event took place in Mumbai and several people from across the state and outside attended it virtually.

The MCAP will focus on six action tracks to introduce sector-specific strategies for mitigation and adaptation that can lead to implementable climate projects that contribute to the city's resilience.

The six thematic action areas are sustainable waste management, urban greening and biodiversity, urban flooding and water resource management, building energy efficiency, air quality, and sustainable mobility.

For Mumbai to adapt to changing climatic scenarios, a vulnerability assessment using satellite imagery has been completed to identify the critical risk factors.

There is a national level Climate Action Plan, and there are respective states' climate action plans, but Mumbai is the first big city to plan for mitigative and adaptive measures in view of the climatic changes happening rapidly.

A recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has predicted sea-level rise threat for coastal areas and increased, erratic precipitation for areas such as Mumbai, leaving the Maharashtra capital vulnerable.

Mumbai took the lead to draft its Climate Action Plan by the end of 2021 in compliance with the guidelines and ambitious standards of 'C40' that it joined in December 2020. MCGM is receiving technical support from the World Resources Institute India (WRI), engaged as a knowledge partner.

Citizens will be able to submit their recommendations until September 20, and the process of finalising the action tracks under MCAP is expected to be ready by November, closer to the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). The actionable tracks would set goals for 2030, 2040 and 2050.

"We are talking of 2030 and 2050, but given the increase in frequency and intensity of extreme climate events that Mumbai has witnessed, especially during the last 4-5 years, do we really have that much time? The time for action is now as any further delay would make Mumbai unsuitable to live in over the next decade," Thackeray said at the launch event in Mumbai.