Mumbai becomes part of C40 cities to tackle climate change

C40 offers three types of membership categories to reflect the diversity of cities taking action to address climate change

India’s financial capital, Mumbai has secured a place in the ‘C40 Cities’, on tackling climate change and driving urban action that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks, while increasing the health, wellbeing, and economic opportunities of urban citizens.

In this regard, Maharashtra’s Environment, Tourism, and Protocol Minister Aaditya Thackeray made the formal announcement on Friday and assured Mumbai’s commitment towards tackling climate change issues.

“Happy to inform all the climate change action believers that I have received a confirmation mail on a unanimous vote to accept Mumbai as a ‘C40 Cities’ member city,” he said, adding that the government had applied to be a part of this group as we believe that our cities can lead the climate change initiative.

The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group is a group of 97 cities around the world that represents one-twelfth of the world's population and one-quarter of the global economy.

Thackeray thanked Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti for chairing the steering committee and all the member cities for accepting this application.

“We are committed to being a leader in climate change mitigation and adaptation action and will initiate the process for other cities in Maharashtra as well,” he said.

Thackeray pointed out that cities across Maharashtra like Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Thane have the capacity to lead climate change adaptation and mitigation measures in Maharashtra.

He also thanked former Los Angeles Mayor Mike Bloomberg for seeding this idea through his initiatives to bring cities onboard for the environment

While C40 originally targeted megacities for their greater capacity to address climate change, C40 now offers three types of membership categories to reflect the diversity of cities taking action to address climate change. The categories consider such characteristics as population size, economic output, environmental leadership, and the length of a city's membership – megacities, innovator cities, and observer cities.