Abstract

This chapter looks at how the cities and their governments are dealing with the challenge of urban environmental governance more broadly, and climate governance specifically. It discusses that while there are a range of efforts across multiple scales and sectors under way to tackle climate and other environmental challenges, these are often piecemeal and not coordinated. The chapter focuses on the institutional architecture of climate governance in some case studies at regional and local levels, both of them in southern India: the state of Karnataka and its capital city, Bangalore, and the state of Tamil Nadu and its capital Chennai. It attempts to delineate the environmental and climate governance architecture in India. The chapter points to an obvious disconnect between the institutional framework at the national and the state levels. It also focuses on environmental and climate governance, both in India and elsewhere, and provides a broader context for climate policy and governance in India.