CLIMATE CHANGE VULNERABLE KOLKATA LOOKS TO INDIAN AND US

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KOLKATA 000255

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR OES AND SCA/INSB
STATE FOR SECC TODD STERN
DEPT OF ENERGY FOR TCUTLER, MGINZBERG

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV ENRG ECON IN
SUBJECT: CLIMATE CHANGE VULNERABLE KOLKATA LOOKS TO INDIAN AND US
GOVERNMENTS FOR LEADERSHIP

KOLKATA 00000255 001.2 OF 003



1. (U) Summary: The eastern Indian city of Kolkata is one of the
world's most vulnerable cities due to coastal flooding and the
effects of climate change. While the West Bengal state
government has set up a state-level Climate Committee and
secretariat to formulate and implement adaptation strategies,
the committee has yet to influence state policy. Large
manufacturers are incorporating low carbon strategies in their
business plans, but smaller manufacturers have not yet been
convinced of the business case for energy efficiency and a low
carbon future. Indian interlocutors across the board agree with
the GOI's position that the GOI should not commit to legally
binding emission cuts at the upcoming climate negotiations in
Copenhagen in December 2009 since India's carbon emissions are
already much lower per capita than in developed countries. At
the same time, they do however recognize that India should make
voluntary efforts to embark on a sustainable low carbon growth
path. They appreciate renewed U.S. focus and look towards U.S.
leadership in providing funding and technology for the
developing world to address the global challenges of climate
change.

Impacts of Climate Change to Hit Coastal Kolkata Hard


2. (U) Kolkata, the capital of the East Indian state of West
Bengal, is located five meters above sea level in the Ganges
delta on the banks of the river Hooghly. Greater Kolkata's 14
million inhabitants are highly vulnerable to coastal flooding
due to rising sea levels and more intensive precipitation as a
result of climate change. A 2007 OECD report analyzing the
impact of coastal flooding in port cities worldwide ranked
Kolkata sixth among the ten most vulnerable cities in the world.
The report predicts that by 2070, Kolkata will displace Mumbai
as the city with the highest population in the world exposed to
coastal flooding.

State Government Focused on Adaptation


3. (U) The West Bengal state government's Chief Environment
Officer Debal Ray told EconFSN that the state government
recognizes Kolkata and West Bengal's vulnerability to climate
change. In 2007 it constituted a Chief Minister-led
interdepartmental Climate Committee and a secretariat to
coordinate and implement all climate change related activities
in the state. However, despite the formation of an
inter-departmental committee, Ray regretted that politicians
were yet to factor in climate change and the environment in
major departmental policy decisions. The World Bank and the
Asian Development Bank are currently funding a vulnerability
assessment study of greater Kolkata, expected in November 2009,
to identify key policy priorities for decision makers.
According to Ray, the state government will focus on adaptation
strategies such as refurbishment of urban drainage systems,
construction of seawalls, change in land use, adoption of early
warning systems and improved disaster preparedness. He said
that the state will consider taking up only cost-effective
mitigation actions, like incentivizing the use of CFL in place
of incandescent bulbs. He mentioned that based on the findings
of the World Bank - ADB study, the state will consider drafting
a state-level action plan on climate change along the lines of
the GoI's National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).

Large Scale Industries Pursue Carbon Reduction Strategies


4. (U) Heavy industries and most of the big business houses
based in the region recognize that climate change poses a threat
to their long term sustainability and have adopted well defined
strategies to lower their carbon emissions. The Kolkata-based
international consumer goods giant and hotelier ITC Ltd. has
adopted a triple bottom line policy which apart from improving
economic profitability also emphasizes environmental
sustainability and corporate social responsibility. In July
Secretary Clinton visited the ITC's Green Building Center
outside of New Delhi and learned about the company's efforts to
reduce its carbon footprint. In energy intensive industries
like steel, leading players like Tata Steel are concentrating on
improving energy efficiency through investment in, and
deployment of, breakthrough energy efficiency technology. CESC
Limited, a leading Kolkata-based private sector power generation
company, is benchmarking its practices against the most
efficient power generating companies in the world. The CESC
Senior Environment Manager told EconFSN that the company had
benefited from private sector exchanges organized under the Asia
Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate.

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5. (U) PricewaterhouseCoopers Associate Director for
Sustainability Surojit Bose opined that the Kyoto Protocol's
Clean Development Mechanism tool has incentivized companies to
adopt green technologies through the promise of carbon credits,
although most of the large business houses like ITC and Tata
believe that carbon management makes business sense even without
the additional benefit. Bose offered that large companies are
now moving beyond mitigation actions, and have started to turn
their eyes towards adaptation strategies.

~While Small And Micro Industries Remain Unaware Of The Threats
Of Inaction


6. (U) On the other hand, small and micro industries have a very
poor record of environmental compliance or the propensity to
adopt low carbon technologies. Vice President of the Federation
of Small, Medium and Micro Industries Goutam Roy said that the
primary concern of manufacturing industries in the small and
micro sector is bottom line economic survival. He said that
there is little awareness or even interest in energy efficiency
or environment friendly production in segments such as cast iron
foundries, sponge iron manufacturing units and micro units
manufacturing non-ferrous contact points for the electrical
industries as it is assumed to be cost-prohibitively expensive.
He opined that "nearly 80 percent of the small and micro units
use outdated, energy intensive manufacturing technologies and
regularly flout environmental regulations". The small,
independent and unorganized natures of the manufacturers make it
difficult to reach and regulate the industry. He stressed the
importance of government action, in the form of regulation, to
curb emissions in the small and micro industry sector, without
which the units will continue with business as usual.

Civil Society Generates Awareness and Prompts Government Action


7. (U) In Kolkata civil society has placed an active role in
generating public awareness about the necessity of addressing
the effects of climate change and advocating for government
action. In the city, it is not uncommon to read about public
lectures on climate change or see billboards highlighting the
importance of protecting the environment. Recently,
environmental activists working with the courts were successful
in forcing the state government to implement the ban of
transportation vehicles older than 15 years in the city of
Kolkata. Professor Joyashree Roy, Head of the Global Change
Unit at Jadavpur University, advocates a stronger role of the
state government to incubate and disseminate new technology to
small and medium enterprises to make them aware about the
benefits of adopting low carbon technologies.

Kolkata Business and Civil Society Support GOI's Position at the
Climate Negotiations


8. (U) In Kolkata on August 28, the Indian Prime Minister's
Special Envoy on Climate Change Shyam Saran articulated the
GoI's policy on climate change and energy security. He
emphasized that at the upcoming December climate change
negotiations in Copenhagen India would not commit to legally
binding emission reductions, although it would voluntarily
commit to keeping its per capita emissions lower than the
average emissions of the developed countries. Referring to the
Bali Action Plan, he cited the developed world's responsibility
for historic emissions in advocating for a transfer of funds and
technology to assist developing countries with adaptation and
mitigation actions. He cautioned that the GoI opposed tariffs
on goods originating from countries that did not accept binding
emission reduction or sectoral targets.


9. (U) Across the board, interlocutors from private industry and
civil society support the GoI position that it should not commit
to legally binding emission reductions at the upcoming climate
talks in Copenhagen. Contacts frequently make the argument that
"climate preservation" must not trump "poverty reduction". They
do; however, accept the notion of environmental responsibility -
one is hard pressed to find anyone who espouses the view that
Indian has a "right to pollute". Ray and Bose believe that
climate action strategies should dovetail those aimed at
achieving the millennium development goals. A general consensus
exists that while India does not need to make an international
commitment to reduce emissions, the country does need to make
voluntary efforts to tread on the low carbon path in the years
to come and that the NAPCC, although not perfect, is a good

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starting point. Civil society is generating awareness about
climate change and encouraging the government to play a positive
role, whether through fiscal and financial incentives, or
regulation.

Appreciation for New U.S. Focus on Climate Change


11. (U) Interlocutors in Kolkata appreciate the Obama
Administration's renewed focus on climate change and
simultaneously acknowledge the importance of USG leadership on
the issue. They look forward to developed countries' proposal
in Copenhagen in regards to emission reduction targets, funds
and technology transfer. Several remarked that U.S. credibility
and its bargaining position at Copenhagen would be enhanced with
the passage of the U.S. climate action bill.

Comment


12. (SBU) In Kolkata there is wide spread recognition that
climate change is a serious problem that could have a
devastating impact on the city. As a result, in this urban
cosmopolitan metro - one of India's four - the United States
will find a receptive audience to new initiatives and leadership
on climate change. USG public statements that acknowledge
developed countries' collective responsibility for historic
emissions and emphasize our willingness to assist vulnerable
developing countries with funds and technology transfers will be
well received across the political and economic spectrum and
will promote a growing perception that the USG is serious about
combating climate change.
PAYNE