Civic body to calculate Pune’s carbon footprint in two months

PUNE: The last time Pune’s carbon footprint was calculated was in 2010-11. In that survey, conducted by Delhi-based The

Energy and Resources Institute

(TERI), Pune was ranked fifth among in terms of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions.

Pune was also the first to conduct such a study at the municipal level. However, that exercise was never repeated.

The situation has changed over the last six years, taking into account the development and the scale of the city’s consumption and emission patterns. Hence,

Pune Municipal Corporation

(

PMC

) officials said that they will discuss the matter and publish the CO2e report for the 2016-17 year in two months.

Explaining the need for calculating the carbon footprint, the civic body’s environment officer Mangesh Dighe told TOI: “The study tells us about the consumption patterns and the carbon emission inventory of the city. This will helped the PMC initiate and plan various projects to control or offset the emissions.”

However, when asked why the study was not conducted in the six years since the last report, Dighe said there was no mandate for a municipal body to conduct a study over a fixed period of time. “There is no need to conduct it at regular intervals, as the consumption and emission trend will not change in a big city every year,” Dighe said.

“We are now considering to have the carbon footprint calculated once again. There is a meeting with the team from International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) soon. We will then ask them to carry out the survey,” he said.

The new study will be conducted for the year 2016-17, as the data is already available. ICLEI is also working with PMC for their Solar Mission project. The new report will be published by July 31, Dighe added.