We look forward to further our partnership on electric mobility, Aaditya Thackeray said
Maharashtra, as a sub-national and regional government, has ramped up its presence at COP26 with several high-profile announcements in addressing the issue of climate change and adopting solutions to move towards greener energy.
After announcing that Maharashtra had joined the UN Race to Resilience campaign, the state on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a non-profit, RMI, to support adoption and promotion of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in Maharashtra.
According to the MoU, RMI will provide technical support to implement state's recently launched EV Policy. The signing took place in Glasgow, United Kingdom, at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26).
"We look forward to further our partnership on electric mobility, ZEV, hydrogen fuel and decarbonization our transport sector and urban renewal sector" said Aaditya Thackeray, Cabinet Minister for Environment and Climate Change, at the signing of the MoU.
On MoU signing, Akshima Ghate, Senior Director, RMI India said, "Maharashtra has notified one of the most progressive sub-national EV policies. RMI India is inspired by Hon'ble Minister's vision for 100% electrification of public transport in the state and is looking forward to bringing together RMI and RMI India's expertise to support state in decarbonizing its transportation sector."
"Climate action is no longer confined to Environment Depts. We need multilevel, multilateral deep collaboration within governments, partners organisations and citizens. This morning, I emphasized on this very need at the Cities, Regions, Built Environment Day @COP26," Mr Thackeray added.
RMI, is a 40-year-old non-profit working on clean energy transitions globally. It has been partnering with RMI India, an organization working on India's clean energy and mobility issues, to work along public and private sector agencies on electric mobility
A couple of days ago, a key action had been the state's entry to the United Nations Race to Resilience campaign. "Our goal is to keep Maharashtra within 1.5 degrees target so as to safeguard millions of livelihoods that would be affected due to climate related disasters. Maharashtra's joining UNCC's Race to Resilience movement will allow us to report and assess our emissions on a dynamic basis," Mr Thackeray had said.
It is only through the efforts of our elected representatives, administrators and most importantly the citizens of Maharashtra that we have been able to achieve so much in such a short time. And now our goals are even more ambitious for climate action in Maharashtra, Mr Thackeray had added.