Ahead of COP26, 43 Maharashtra cities to join UN-backed 'Race to Zero' climate campaign

Furthering its efforts of progressive climate action, the Maharashtra government on Thursday announced that 43 AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) cities and urban clusters from the state will join the global ‘Race to Zero’ campaign, ahead of Climate Week NYC 2021 and as part of the Global Citizen Live campaign.

Cities joining ‘Race to Zero’ will seek to prevent future climate threats, create jobs, and unlock equitable, sustainable growth. These cities must publicly acknowledge and recognise the global climate emergency, keeping climate resilience in line with urban decision making and pledging to reach net-zero in the 2040s or sooner. They will also have to identify priority actions over the next decade.

Maharashtra’s environment minister Aaditya Thackeray made the announcement at India's Road to COP26 event, part of The Hub Live at Climate Week NYC 2021.

"Joining the Race to Zero campaign is our contribution to the global fight against climate change. We cannot keep emitting carbon. We don't have the luxury of time. Maharashtra will set an example of how subnational governments can act on climate change despite being a massively industrialised state,” he said.

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Five cities — Mumbai, Nashik, Aurangabad, Kalyan-Dombivali, Pune and Nagpur — already joined the campaign earlier this year.

The environment department will undertake a greenhouse gas emission inventory exercise for all the cities and clusters, which account for a floating population of 5 crore.

Within 12 months of joining, the cities will have to explain what actions will be taken toward achieving both interim and longer-term pledges and commit to report publicly both progress against interim and long-term targets. They will also have to report the actions being taken at least once a year.

With a population of 11.2 crore, Maharashtra is India's second most populated and second most industrialised state.

In 2020, 45.23 per cent of the state's population was concentrated in urban areas, compared to 28.22 per cent in 1960. Maharashtra's rapid urbanisation and industrailisation is a result of mass migration to urban areas. A majority of Maharashtra's citizens migrated to urban areas, resulting in rapid urbanisation and industrialisation.

With the announcement, the state aims to reduce its rapidly increasing carbon footprint, which largely comes from its urban centres.

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