‘Mumbai to become climate finance gateway for Global South: Devendra Fadnavis inaugurates MCW 2026 summit

The opening event also saw the launch of the theme report for MCW, ‘Climate in the Global South: Advancing innovation and collective action’.

Fadnavis also said that Mumbai, India’s financial capital, can become a climate finance gateway for the Global South. “Scale of climate transition requires patent capital and confidence in execution. Mumbai has deep financial markets and growing green finance platforms. Therefore, we invite global institutions to partner with us for making scalable models to counter climate change, which other economies can replicate.”

The MCW is India’s first platform dedicated to accelerating transformative, citizen-driven climate action in the Global South. Global leaders and policymakers convene at the summit to advance climate sustainability and growth.

According to Fadnavis, Maharashtra leads the way in renewable energy. “India added an additional 55 gigawatts to its 552 gigawatt installed capacity in just one year, the fastest ever and 75 per cent renewable sources have led this. I am proud to say most of this has come from Maharashtra.”

“In Maharashtra, we are roughly at 48 gigawatt installed capacity with 21 per cent renewable, but this number will change significantly by 2030, when we approach 84 gigawatt installed capacity, we will have more than 50 per cent from green and clean sources. We are doing this by saving green hydrogen, electric mobility, biofuels and sustainable infrastructure,” Fadnavis added.

1 lakh additional solar pumps to farmers

Speaking during the launch, Prahlad Joshi, Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy, announced 1 lakh additional solar pumps for Maharashtra under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM Kusum) scheme.

“Being the fourth largest economy in the world, India’s emissions have come down in the last 10 years. We are decoupling growth and emissions. This is the first of its kind globally, and Maharashtra is leading on that front. Maharashtra is becoming a model of how economic growth and environmental protection can go hand in hand, a model many states are now following. Therefore, Mumbai should become the voice of Global action,” said Joshi.

He added, “When the PM Kusum yojana, which looks at the conversion of agricultural pumps into solar pumps, was announced, it was very slow. In Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis made it into a people’s movement and brought in a revolution. In Maharashtra, under the PM Kusum programme, the cost of energy production is Rs 3, with Rs 5 in savings: electricity is generated by farmers, consumed on-site, and any excess is fed into the power grid. Since PM Kusum is the most successful in Maharashtra, I am announcing another 1 lakh additional pumps for the state, and I will pass this order as soon as I reach Delhi to give these to the state.”

Pankaja Munde, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, said climate action is a shared global response. “For Maharashtra and especially in Mumbai, climate change impact is visible as we are witnessing rising flooding, urban heat, and increasing pressure on air quality. In rural Maharashtra, we are also witnessing droughts and flooding, which indicate that the environment is being neglected. Maharashtra stands as one of the leading states in industrialisation, which makes it further open to climate issues,” said Munde.

Shishir Joshi, the organising head of the MCW and founder of Project Mumbai, said that the idea behind the summit is to move beyond dialogue towards implementation and citizen engagement.