Jamshedpur had the highest per capita carbon emission, while Thiruvananthapuram and Asansol had the lowest in 2007-08, according to an energy status report of 40 Indian cities.
The survey, released in the national capital today, was carried out in 53 cities of India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, by ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability, an international NGO working for creating a partnership of cities for combating climate change.
These cities shared energy status information "in various sectors under the jurisdiction of their respective municipal corporations or municipalities," the report said.
The 'Energy and Carbon Emissions Profile of 53 South Asian Cities', a part of the Local Government Climate Roadmap initiative of the ICLEI, however, did not include emissions and energy consumption data from Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad.
If results from all 53 cities are taken into account, the Sri Lankan transport hub of Kurunagela had the highest per capital emission of 9.63 T/year (tonnes per year) in 2007-08, while Rajshahi in Bangladesh has the lowest (0.08 T/year).
The per capita emission in Jamshedpur was 2.67 T/year, followed by Visakhapatnam (2.25), Gurgaon (2.13), Ranchi (1.97), Kolkata (1.83) and Jaipur (1.63). Chennai recorded 0.91 T/year of carbon emissions during the same period.
The lowest emitters were Asansol and Thiruvananthapuram (0.25 T/year), Jabalpur (0.30), Bhopal (0.31) Tiruchinapalli (0.33) and Nashik (0.34), according to the survey.
Releasing the report at the 'Local Government Climate Roadmap - South Asian Regional Meet', Delhi Mayor Kanwar Sain said a number of measures have been taken by the authorities for making the city more environment-friendly, including the introduction of CNG fleet and Metro rail services.
The MCD is following the "green building concept" in constructing its new headquarters — the Civic Centre building, the Mayor said.
Michael Anderson, the head of DFID-India, said as largest emitters as well as centres of social innovation, cities will have to play a leadership role and take "bold action" in the fight to combat climate change. South Asian cities can show the way in low-carbon development, he added.
The British High Commission funded the project while the European Commission also supported it.
Mayors of Pune and Phuentsoling (in Bhutan) spoke on the environment-friendly initiatives taken up in their areas.
ICLEI Executive Director Emani Kumar hoped that the findings of the report will help in developing climate protection measures in national and city-level policies and action plans to limit climate change.
