Aaditya Thackrey on Sunday addressed the Global Citizen Live event.
Maharashtra Environment Minister Aaditya Thackrey on Sunday addressed Global Citizen Live - - the international event on climate change - - and urged the state to take up immediate measures to safeguard the environment.
Speaking on the climate change situation in Maharashtra, Mr Thackeray said that the state has seen a staggering seven-fold increase in droughts and a six-fold increase in the frequency of extreme flood events since 1960.
The minister, who is the son of state Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, called for immediate steps to be taken in order to curb the events of natural calamities.
"In the last year alone, the state has borne climate-related expenses of over Rs 14000 crore, almost 2 billion dollars due to increased natural disasters. This just reinforces the bleak reality that climate change is the greatest inequity," Mr Thackeray said.
Mr Thackeray highlighted his government's initiatives to include common people in climate action by spreading awareness on the issue.
"The most affected are the ones least responsible. In Maharashtra, we are taking this climate action to the people. We are talking about climate action with them and not at them. We are creating a movement by involving local administrators and our civil society," he said.
"I truly believe in the power of young people coming together and taking action to defend our planet, joining the Race to Zero. Because, in our fight against climate change, the time to act is NOW!" the minister said.
Global Citizen Live is a global charity event from the NGO Global Citizen.
This year, the NGO wants one billion trees planted, two billion vaccines delivered to the poorest countries and meals for 41 million people on the brink of starvation.
The organisation describes itself as a movement with a mission to end extreme poverty by 2030.
Its app uses incentives such as concert tickets to encourage users into pressuring governments on issues around sustainability and equality.