Context:

• Tamil Nadu’s climate strategy is built on ground-level leadership, ensuring policies translate into measurable action.
• To achieve this, the State established the Tamil Nadu Green Climate Company (TNGCC), one of India’s earliest dedicated climate coordination agencies.
• Through four missions — the Climate Change Mission, Green Tamil Nadu Mission, Wetlands Mission, and Coastal Restoration Mission — TNGCC leads efforts in reducing emissions, restoring ecosystems, and strengthening community livelihoods.
• This article explains how Tamil Nadu is creating a strong model for climate action at the district level.
• It shows how leadership on the ground, new climate institutions, detailed planning of emissions, and active community participation are helping the State move toward a net-zero future much before 2070.

Tamil Nadu’s Net Zero Roadmap: Ambition Ahead of 2070

• Tamil Nadu has released a comprehensive Greenhouse Gas (GHG) inventory (2005–2019) and a detailed Net Zero Pathway to achieve net zero well before India’s 2070 target.
• The inventory shows promising trends: though highly industrialised, Tamil Nadu contributed only 7% of India’s total emissions in 2019 and reduced its emission intensity to GDP by nearly 60% since 2005.
• Key Drivers of Emission Reduction
  • The State’s progress comes from strong sectoral interventions such as rapid expansion of renewable energy, improved energy efficiency, industrial decarbonisation, and an ambitious electric-mobility programme aimed at electrifying all public transport.
  • Renewable energy now makes up 60% of installed power capacity and 30% of total electricity generation in the State.
• Bottom-Up Climate Action: District-Level Decarbonisation
  • Tamil Nadu has launched a bottom-up climate action framework, including district-level decarbonisation plans and a real-time Climate Action Tracker developed with the Vasudha Foundation.
  • Four pilot districts — The Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Ramanathapuram and Virudhunagar — show potential to abate up to 92% of projected emissions by 2050 through clean energy, mobility transition, industrial efficiency and nature-based solutions.
  • These districts can also sequester nearly three million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent by 2050.
• Climate Risks: The Need for Urgent Action
  • The district Climate Action Plans are based on detailed GHG inventories and climate variability assessments.
  • Findings warn that if emissions remain unabated, warm days could rise by nearly 95% by 2100, accompanied by higher precipitation and wetter monsoons.
  • The impacts would be especially severe in vulnerable regions like The Nilgiris.

Sectoral Drivers of Emissions in Tamil Nadu’s Pilot Districts

• GHG emissions vary across the four pilot districts.
  • Nilgiris & Coimbatore: Road transport is the highest contributor (43% and 36%), followed by residential energy (20% and 12%).
  • Virudhunagar: Cement (37%), road transport (20%), and industrial energy (16%) dominate emissions.
  • Ramanathapuram: Public electricity generation (28%) and rice cultivation (12%) are major contributors.
• Using emissions trajectories and sector analysis, the action plans outline yearly, shovel-ready projects from 2025 in areas such as electric mobility, waste management, forest restoration and industrial decarbonisation.
  • Nilgiris: Can reach net zero by 2030 under a moderate scenario.
  • Ramanathapuram: Can achieve net zero by 2047 under an aggressive pathway requiring lifestyle shifts.
  • Coimbatore & Virudhunagar: With higher industrialisation, they can become net zero by 2055.
• The approach positions climate action as a catalyst for green growth that protects both people and nature, rather than viewing it as a development constraint. Tamil Nadu plans to replicate similar district-level climate strategies across all 38 districts.

Monitoring Progress Through the Climate Action Tracker

• A real-time Climate Action Tracker ensures transparency and accountability, based on the principle that “what gets measured, gets done.”
• A dedicated Project Management Unit (PMU) is being set up in each pilot district to support implementation.

Tamil Nadu’s Community-Centred, Nature-Driven Climate Strategy

• Tamil Nadu is advancing climate action through large-scale afforestation, mangrove and wetland restoration, and biodiversity protection.
• With 20 Ramsar sites and 30% of its land under protection, the State is also restoring coastal ecosystems along its 1,068-km shoreline while supporting local livelihoods.
• By expanding decarbonisation efforts to agriculture, livestock and waste, Tamil Nadu is widening the scope of its low-carbon transition.
• Central to this approach is community participation, ensuring climate action is visible, verifiable and locally driven.
• Tamil Nadu’s model demonstrates how national net-zero goals can be strengthened through local innovation and evidence-based governance.