The city of Chennai has joined the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40), affirming the commitment of the Greater Chennai Corporation to tackling climate change. The move reveals the determination of Indian cities to create low carbon and resilient economies, in support of the government’s commitments to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
Chennai’s entry to C40 brings the number of C40 cities worldwide to 86, representing more than 650 million people worldwide. Six Indian cities are currently members of C40: Bengaluru; Chennai; Delhi NCT; Jaipur; Kolkata and Mumbai.
Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state, is the fourth largest city in India with an urban area population of almost 10 million.
“Chennai experienced some of the worst floods in living memory during December 2015, and we understand the threat that climate change poses to our citizens,” said Commissioner of Greater Chennai Corporation D Karthikeyan. “Chennai looks forward to cooperating with the cities of the C40 network to accelerate our efforts against climate change.”
“By joining C40, Chennai has shown their commitment to securing a low carbon and liveable future for its citizens,” said C40 Chair and Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes. “It has been a priority of my chairmanship to bring more cities into the C40 Network from India and I look forward to working with Greater Chennai Corporation, as well as the five other Indian cities in C40 to secure a sustainable future for all.”
At the Chennai-C40 MoU signing: Sanjay Sridhar, C40 Regional Director for South and West Asia; Kevin Austin, C40 Deputy Executive Director; Commissioner D Karthikeyan; KS Kandasamy, Deputy Commissioner (Works).