Pune Wins C40 Cities Bloomberg Climate Action Awards
Pune has won the C40 Cities Bloomberg Philanthropies Award for the year 2022. The awards recognize city leadership in urban climate action and the winners include 10 city projects paving the way toward a greener future. The winners were recently announced at the C40 World Mayors Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Mayors from around the world represented the most ambitious and impactful projects aimed at tackling the global climate crisis. Awards were given out in five categories, on the theme United in Action. The categories were:
- United to accelerate immediate action in critical sectors
- United to clean the air we breathe
- United in building climate resilience
- United to innovate
- United in building a climate movement
Seventy cities competed for this year’s prestigious awards. The awards celebrate pioneering climate projects led by cities around the world, recognizing mayors and encouraging friendly competition between cities keen to demonstrate their successful climate actions and raise global ambition. Seven prior editions of this programme have showcased some of world’s most ambitious climate projects and amplified best practices. Previous winners of the award include London who were awarded for the pioneering 24 hour Ultra Low Emission Zone.
Sadiq Khan, Chair of C40 Cities and Mayor of London, Congratulated all of the C40 Cities Bloomberg Philanthropies Awards winners. He said, “cities are leading the way when it comes to tackling the climate emergency. These cities represent some of the best projects from around the world and their commitment to local communities and the planet is impressive. The focus on immediate climate action illustrates the power of cities to be doers, not delayers, setting a new level of ambition that I hope will inspire leaders around the world to invest in a greener future.”
Michael R. Bloomberg, C40 Board President, UN Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions, 108th Mayor of New York City and Founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies echoed the sentiments. He said, “Across the world, mayors and cities are increasingly uniting to share strategies, set ambitious goals and deliver much-needed results in the fight against climate change. The C40 Cities Bloomberg Philanthropies Awards showcase the best of local climate leadership, demonstrating to national governments and the world what’s possible ahead of COP27.”
C40 Executive Director Mark Watts also congratulated the winners of the C40 Cities Bloomberg Philanthropies Awards. He said, “The winning projects are excellent examples of cities making a strong impact on their communities. A healthier, cleaner future must be every mayor’s priority. When mayors invest in the green recovery, they create jobs and just, thriving communities for all. This year’s winners are climate leaders and we are proud to highlight their hard work at the C40 World Mayors Summit.”
Supriya Sahu, Principal Secretary for the Department of Environment, Climate Change & Forests in the government of Tamil Nadu, India, and one of eight awards jurors was equally thrilled to congratulate the C40 Cities Bloomberg Philanthropies Awards winners. She highlighted their impressive climate projects and leadership and said, “selecting the winners was a challenging task due to the outstanding quality and variety of applications. The winning projects should inspire leaders around the world who are eager to slash emissions, build resilience and make a lasting difference in their communities.”
C40 is a network of nearly 100 mayors of the world’s leading cities who are working to deliver the urgent action needed to confront the climate crisis. Mayors of C40 cities are committed to using a science-based and people-focused approach to help the world limit global heating to 1.5°C and build healthy, equitable and resilient communities. Bloomberg Philanthropies invests in 941 cities and 173 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people.
