Coimbatore is likely to be a part of an international
effort to build sustainable, low carbon cities, if things go as planned
by ICLEI, an NGO, and the British High Commission.

The
project aims at encouraging local governments to develop State-level
guidelines and leverage international and national funds for such
projects.

According to sources in the Coimbatore
Corporation, ICLEI, which is already working with the Corporation, has
proposed the scheme and the Corporation is likely to sign a memorandum
of understanding to take up the project.

Based on the
project, ICLEI and the British High Commission will help develop
State-level urban low carbon guidelines for Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan,
the two states that will implement the project.

In
the two states, Coimbatore, Tiruchi and Tirunelveli and Jaipur, Udaipur,
Kota and Jodhpur, will be the cities that will implement the project.

The
policy paper prepared says that in addition to developing the
guidelines and exploring the possibility of finance, the project also
aims at developing an India-specific green house gas protocol, a
monitoring, reporting and verification mechanism for carbon emission in
cities. And also an information dissemination mechanism to raise
awareness among stakeholders on use of clean technologies.

The
policy paper prepared in this context says that there has been a need
to develop low carbon energy policies because there are states that are
more vulnerable to climate change due to their location, the lack of
expertise and climate policies.

It also says that in
the course of interactions the ICLEI members had had with a number of
states, they have found Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan better prepared and
more aware and well-equipped to implement the project.

The
successful formulation of urban low carbon policies at the state-level
will propel other Indian states and cities to follow, the papers notes.