Maharashtra Becomes Sole Indian State To Bag Award At COP26 For Climate Action

Maharashtra has bagged the Inspiring Regional Leadership award at the inaugural Leadership Awards of the Under2 (U2) Coalition, the largest global network of states and regions committed to climate action, held to coincide with the COP26 summit in Glasgow. It is the only Indian state to win one of the three awards by U2.

The state's Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray received the award on behalf of the state. He is the youngest environment minister in the world to win this honour.

" This state wants to lead in India to tackle climate change. The Chief Minister is a passionate wildlife enthusiast and conservationist and he has allowed us to dream of a better future, a greener future. We have started with a movement called Manjhi Vasundhara, which means My Planet. We are focusing on the traditional five elements of Nature," the minister was quoted as saying by NDTV. Maharashtra's entry has highlighted how the State Government has succeeded in creating a culture of climate action in Maharashtra, which has borne expenses worth $2 billion due to climate-related disasters during the past year.

In COP26, the other two awards were bagged by Quebec (Canada ) in climate partnerships and British Columbia (Canada ) in creative climate solutions. Some of the state's key climate action efforts highlighted at the event include 43 cities joining the Race to Zero towards a Net Zero future, conserving 9,800 hectares of mangroves and wetlands in one year; state-wide climate change mitigation and adaptation program 'Majhi Vasundhara'; and a new electric vehicles policy which mandates that from April 2022 all new government vehicles be electric.

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