5 cities to join ‘Race to Zero’ to combat climate crisis

MUMBAI: Five Maharashtra cities – Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad, Nagpur and Nashik – are set to join the ‘Race to Zero’ global campaign, founded last year in December under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, state environment minister Aaditya Thackeray said in a recently held a virtual meeting with Climate Voices a consortium of three independent environment groups.

The announcement comes days before a global virtual summit on April 22 and 23 – set to be led by US President Joe Biden – where 40 countries will discuss efforts taken at state-level to restrict global warming to a limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius (in light of the Paris Agreements). Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also slated to attend the event.

Thackeray also said that the decision was taken in the run-up to United Nations Climate Change Conference - Conference of the Parties (COP26) to be held in November 2021 at Glasgow, United Kingdom.

“Cities joining ‘Race to Zero’ will seek to prevent climate threats, create jobs, and unlock equitable, sustainable growth. They must publicly acknowledge and recognise the global climate emergency, keeping climate resilience in line with urban decision making, pledging to reach net zero (carbon emissions) in the 2040s or sooner,” Climate Voices said on Friday.

To bring Maharashtra’s climate action strategy in line with global standards, Thackeray revealed to Climate Voices that his government has also entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with C40 Climate Leadership Group – another global campaign in which 97 megacities collaboratively promote sustainable action on climate change. As per the terms of MoU, a draft climate action plan specifically for Mumbai is set to be prepared by August, the first for a C40 city in the Indian subcontinent.

In his discussion with Climate Voices, Thackeray reportedly also discussed developments in Maharashtra’s transition to clean energy. The state will soon float a non-conventional energy policy, involving an investment of ₹1 lakh crore by 2025 for strengthening solar, wind, hydroelectricity and waste-toenergy infrastructure. Through this, the state aims to generate 17,385-megawatt power.

“We are encouraging the use of alternative clean fuels like hydrogen cell fuel while our commitment is to have a minimum of 25% of our overall energy needs to be met through solar energy by 2025. Innovative methods like solarising highways, barren farmlands and floating solar panels on our dams are a part of that effort,” said Thackeray.

Maharashtra will also soon implement its Electric Vehicles (EV) Policy, which aims to catalyse an increase in the use of EVs to 500,000 (in five years) and create over 100,000 jobs.