Climate-Resilient Cities: UPSC Mains Notes
In News
- Karnataka’s new Urban Development Minister presents an opportunity to strengthen climate-resilient and inclusive urban governance.
- The debate highlights the need to integrate public health and climate resilience into urban planning and service delivery.
Present Scenario
- Sanitation workers sustain essential urban services while facing disproportionate exposure to climate-related risks at workplaces and homes.
- Climate change affects people differently through unequal housing conditions, employment security, healthcare access and public infrastructure.
- Frequent heatwaves have transformed occupational heat exposure from an occasional hazard into a persistent challenge for urban workers.
- Poor housing conditions, inadequate water supply and limited green spaces intensify climate vulnerability in informal settlements.
- Sanitation workers experience a double burden by facing climate risks during work and within their residential neighbourhoods.
- Existing healthcare facilities and welfare schemes often fail to reach vulnerable workers because of administrative and institutional barriers.
- Several cities are preparing climate action plans, yet adaptation efforts remain largely focused on physical infrastructure investments.
- Building climate resilience requires integrating public health, labour welfare and urban planning into a unified governance framework.
Issues Associated
- Occupational Heat Exposure: Rising temperatures expose sanitation workers to dehydration, heat stress, cardiovascular complications and declining work productivity.
- Informal Settlements: Poor housing, inadequate drainage and limited green cover significantly increase exposure to heatwaves, flooding and disease outbreaks.
- Healthcare Accessibility: Urban primary healthcare services often remain inaccessible to workers experiencing climate-sensitive occupational health conditions.
- Administrative Barriers: Documentation requirements, fragmented institutions and limited awareness restrict access to existing social protection benefits.
- Human Vulnerability: Climate adaptation strategies frequently prioritise infrastructure while overlooking vulnerable communities facing multiple climate-related risks.
- Evidence Deficit: Limited data on occupational heat exposure and healthcare costs weakens evidence-based urban climate policy formulation.
- Fragmented Governance: Public health, labour welfare and climate resilience continue functioning as isolated policy domains despite their strong interdependence.
Way Forward
- Worker Protection: Heat action plans should ensure drinking water, shaded rest areas, modified work schedules and regular health monitoring.
- Housing Improvement: Greater investment in informal settlements should strengthen housing quality, water access, drainage systems and green infrastructure.
- Climate-Sensitive Healthcare: Urban primary healthcare systems should improve preparedness for heat-related illnesses through accessible and responsive health services.
- Evidence-Based Planning: Cities should strengthen data collection on occupational exposure, healthcare utilisation and long-term climate health impacts.
- Integrated Governance: Urban policies should mainstream climate resilience, public health and labour welfare through coordinated institutional planning.
- People Centric Development: Urban development should measure success by protecting the health, dignity and well-being of essential urban workers.
Source: The Hindu
