Climate justice is a multidimensional approach that recognizes the disproportionate climate effects in a broader sense on marginalized communities and strives to protect them. As an epicentre of both emissions and vulnerability, urban cities must be at the forefront of participatory governance strategies that advance equitable and sustainable development results. This paper focuses on the context and background for investigating the relationship between participatory approaches and local governance within the framework of climate justice in cities. Addressing national and international frameworks, legal mechanisms and also the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the manuscript argues for the rights-based, bottom-up paradigm that necessitates the active involvement of citizens on the streets, district, city, region, and country levels in urban climate planning. Local governments get opportunities as well as challenges to align climate action with social justice principles within their cities. Empirical and critical analysis are assembled reflecting on how systematic integration of participatory urban planning into local governmental policies can yield more resilient, adaptive or just outcomes. This paper uses examples from India, such as Pune’s SWaCH cooperative, and references to global models from developed nations such as Denmark and the USA to provide a comparative perspective on best practices. This research will make an attempt to propose a “Public Participatory Process (PPP)” model to institutionalize civic engagement and uphold the democratic legitimacy of climate governance. In conclusion, given recent developments in the fields of adaptation and climate governance, the paper aims both to emphasize the immediate requirement for structured and inclusive context-sensitive climate change frameworks to enable citizens and local governing bodies to collaborate and contribute more effectively to climate justice and change.