Chennai floods, though prevented the representative of Kochi from reaching Paris Climate conference venue on Tuesday, the city managed to tell the world about its climate change mitigation means through the camaraderie of cities.

The representative of Kochi Mayor could not reach Paris as the conference visa did not arrive on time as the Pondicherry airport too was shut down following heavy showers and flooding in Chennai. Kochi was allotted time to make a 10-minute-long presentation at the conference on Wednesday at 2 p.m. The city delegate was expected to leave for Paris on Monday.

The presentation on clean energy and clean transport projects at the global conclave is of significance to the cities as 100 projects picked by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives from there may get international assistance.

International support could come in the form of technical support and even funding opportunities. The French city of Lyon played the role of the Good Samaritan. Kochi had earlier entered into a city-city tie up with its French counterpart. Kodatu, a French NGO specialising in urban transport, too chipped in and one of senior functionaries agreed to present the case of the city, thus saving the opportunity for the State.

One cannot say that Kochi missed the bus completely as the message of climate mitigation and carbon reduction steps initiated by the city and the Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) could be presented there, said a civic administrator.