Sustainable communities with net zero targets: An introduction

Abstract

In the contemporary world, the resilience building of communities to make them sustainable necessarily can be ensured only through development pathways which conserves, preserves and regenerates scarce resources. The four global frameworks promoted by the United Nations agencies and being operationalised during the period 2015 to 2030 - the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the New Urban Agenda - are all targeted at strengthening the resilience of communities by reducing their risk, vulnerability and exposure to shocks, disasters, extreme events, conflicts and climate change. There has been a growing realisation in recent years that sustainable and resilient communities must necessarily reduce their consumption of fossil fuels and strive for energy transition by promoting new and renewable sources of energy. The reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, global warming, sea level rise and melting of glaciers is necessary to reduce the economic damages caused by the increasing frequency of heatwaves and climate change-induced hydro-meteorological disasters. Innovative disaster risk financing instruments must be designed and promoted to ensure multi-hazard resilience and disaster risk reduction in fragile ecosystems prone to disasters, extreme events and climate change. Ecosystem restoration by nature-based solutions must be promoted by centre staging communities and other stakeholder groups in fragile ecosystems. Risk governance must be prioritised in development planning to ensure sustainable development without loss of lives and disruption of livelihoods. Critical infrastructure protection must be ensured so that critical infrastructure service delivery is not disrupted due to disasters, extreme events and climate change. © 2025 selection and editorial matter, Sreevalsa Kolathayar, N Vinod Chandra Menon and Sreekeshava K S. All rights reserved.