43 cities from Maharashtra to join global 'Race to Zero' campaign on climate change: Aaditya Thackeray

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Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday announced that 43 cities in the state would join the global 'Race to Zero' campaign ahead of Climate Week NYC 2021 as part of the Global Citizen Live campaign.

The selected cities are already part of the Union government's Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme.

Cities joining the 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, pledging to reach net zero by the 2040 or sooner. They will also be identifying priority actions over the next decade, Thackeray said in a statement.

"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," the Minister for Environment and Tourism said.

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Of these, five cities from western Maharashtra - Mumbai, Nashik, Aurangabad, Kalyan-Dombivli, Pune - and Nagpur (from Vidarbha) have already joined the campaign earlier this year, the statement.

The environment department will undertake a greenhouse gas emission inventory exercise for all the cities and clusters, which account for a floating population of 50 million in the state.

Within 12 months of joining, the cities will have to explain what actions will be taken towards achieving both interim and longer-term pledges and commit to report publicly both progress against interim and long-term targets, as well as the actions being taken, at least annually, the statement said.

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