In this report we underline the importance of studying the social representation of climate change for climate policy, especially in a democracy such as India. Social representations are, from a social science point of view, no epiphenomena of 'real' issues, but the very fabric of individual reality and, building on that, collective decision making. If climate change is not socially represented, it is not there in a society. We brie y characterise the Indian climate discourse, which we perceive as being more complex (heterogeneous) than the European or American one. After a brief look at other studies of climate change perceptions, we turn to our own small sample of qualitative interviews (n=16) in Hyderabad, covering a broad range of issues. We then focus on the way our respondents do represent climate change in the context of weather changes, of its causes, and of possible solutions. We present a typology of cognitive maps of climate change, and relate them to the lifestyle and the social context of the respondents that adhere to it. We also try to identify some starting points for a meaningful climate change discourse in Hyderabad, aiming at the improvement of both local adaptation and local mitigation. The report ends with some general conclusions.

This paper analyses the structure of local, regional and national stakeholders that might be relevant for a transition of Hyderabad into a low-carbon megacity. The main angle of the stakeholder selection in this report is de ned by the leading question of our research: How do (local) lifestyle dynamics contribute to climate change, and how can lifestyle changes help to reduce local emissions and the vulnerability to global climate change? Our analysis reveals that climate change actually is a medium to low attention issue for the majority of stakeholders in Hyderabad (as in India in general). At the same time, the identi ed minority of individual or collective actors that actually do rate climate change higher on their agendas have the potential to form a critical mass for socioecological change in the city if (1) they improve their cooperation, if (2) institutional reforms in the urban space increase their impact, and if (3) they manage to align with a still 'silent majority' of stakeholders that by now rate climate change to be of minor relevance. The latter point is based on another key nding of our analyses: Actors with high structural power (based either on political, economic or network power) might be turned into potential 'allies' of a low-carbon strategy, if (1) they can interpret adaptation and mitigation options as new opportunities in their option space, (2) climate issues are more closely linked to sustainability issues, and (3) they perceive institutional reforms and stakeholder involvement as being bene cial for their daily operations. From these insights we derive some consequences for future pilot projects and policy advice.

Currently 23 cities exceed the 10 million inhabitants' threshold. The number of world's megacities is expected to grow to 39 in 2025 with 32 of these in emerging economies. While today cities cater for over half of the world's population, they are facing ever increasing environmental problems. Whether or not an emerging megacity will be able to cope with expected climate change impacts and increased scarcity of natural or man-made resources depends on its capacity to change human behaviour in different areas of what a city constitutes. On-going research on various responses to anticipated climate change impacts on the emerging megacities aims to generate knowledge for an effective and feasible transition towards sustainable development. Where different disciplines and approaches seem to overwhelmingly agree is that mitigation and adaptation measures are urgently needed. This implies not only identifying available technological options but also exploring institutions - defined as "sets of rules" and governance structures, i.e. those "modes of organization" that are necessary to put rules into practice. Thus, in order to arrive at feasible mitigation and adaptation measures, technical solutions and social construction need to be combined. This Emerging megacities series presents findings of current inter- and trans- disciplinary research on different topics concerning the sustainable growth of these rapidly expanding cities.