UK, Tamil Nadu join hands to advance carbon-neutral urban transition

CHENNAI: The UK Government, in partnership with the Tamil Nadu Green Climate Company (TNGCC) and GoTN, hosted a State-level inception workshop in the city on Friday to advance carbon-neutral urban transitions.

The workshop focused on two UK-PACT (United Kingdom–Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions) projects in Erode and Thoothukudi.

Senior state and city officials, academics, policymakers, industry representatives, and international partners participated in the deliberations. The programme is being implemented through partners including the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) India, IIT Madras, CENEX, and TERI.

The inaugural session featured Shalini Medepalli, deputy head of the mission, British Deputy High Commission, Chennai, and VP Jayaseelan, Joint Commissioner (Health), GCC. A letter exchange between TNGCC and the UK Government marked the formal partnership to advance urban decarbonisation.

Additional Chief Secretary Supriya Sahu, Department of Climate Change, Environment and Forests, highlighted the need for sustainable financing models for green mobility, citing extended producer responsibility as a possible mechanism for local bodies. Owain Roberts, Head of Climate Policy, British High Commission, New Delhi, delivered the closing remarks.

Two technical sessions followed. The first, on leveraging data and technology for climate and transport planning, was moderated by Professor Gitakrishnan Ramadurai of IIT Madras, who stated that IIT-M, along with ITDP, TERI and CENEX, was developing a sustainable roadmap for Thoothukudi under the UK-PACT programme using digital twin technology.

Panellists included Poonam Sabikhi (CUMTA), Sachin Kumar (Arup), and Manish Srivastava (eGov Foundation), who shared perspectives on data-driven mobility solutions.

The second session, on climate finance for urban local bodies, was moderated by Aswathy Dilip of ITDP India. Discussions centred on aligning finance with climate action and building institutional capacity. “The Erode project, led by CEEW with ITDP India, and the Thoothukudi project, led by IIT-M with TERI, ITDP India and CENEX, will serve as pilot models for climate-responsive urban planning and sustainable mobility,” a release from IIT-Madras said.