Karachi rejoins C40 megacity network after three years

Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab on Tuesday announced that Karachi had regained its active membership in the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group after a hiatus of three years. The city’s membership was deactivated in 2022, but it has now been reinstated, offering a positive development for its citizens.

In a statement, he revealed that Mark Watts, the executive director of C40, praised Karachi's efforts in developing a Paris-Aligned Climate Action Plan through an official letter. Watts expressed confidence that Karachi would meet the 2021-24 Leadership Standards by March 2025.

This included the requirement to draft and implement a final Climate Action Plan within the specified timeline. The mayor emphasised the urgency for Karachi to accelerate progress on outstanding issues to fully comply with C40 membership criteria. He reassured the public that all necessary steps were being taken, with the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation committed to adhering to international environmental standards and working closely with the C40 Leadership Group and other global environmental organisations.

C40 is a global network of nearly 100 mayors from major cities worldwide, focused on tackling the climate crisis. Its science-based, inclusive approach aims to reduce member cities' carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 and limit global warming to 1.5°C, while promoting healthy, equitable, and resilient communities.

Among the 10 South Asian cities in the C40 network are Ahmedabad, Amman, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Dhaka, Dubai, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Karachi. Following the 2016 Paris Agreement, which was signed by 196 parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP), cities worldwide have committed to limiting the global temperature increase to well below 2°C, with efforts to restrict it further to 1.5°C.