New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday called upon the developed countries to fulfill their commitments on finance and technology transfer to developing countries for successful climate action.
In his inaugural address at TERI’s World Sustainable Development Summit, the PM said that he firmly believes that “environmental sustainability can only be achieved through climate justice”.
Stressing that sustainability requires coordinated action for the global commons, the PM said that India’s efforts have recognised this inter-dependence.
He spoke of India’s global green initiatives – the International Solar Alliance, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (C.D.R.I), the ‘Infrastructure for the Resilient Island States and LIFE – LIfestyle For Environment.
Modi said through the International Solar Alliance, the aim is to work towards a global ”One Sun, One World, One Grid”. “This is the ”whole of the world” approach that India’s values stand for.”
He said the LIFE initiative is about making lifestyle choices to improve our planet. “LIFE will be a coalition of like-minded people across the world who will promote sustainable lifestyles. I call them 3Ps – Pro Planet People. This global movement of Pro Planet People (3-Ps) is the Coalition for LIFE. These three global coalitions will form the trinity of our environmental efforts for improving the global commons,” the PM added.
India has also raised its ambitions during CoP-26 at Glasgow, he said in his address at The Energy and Resources Institute’s (TERI) World Sustainable Development Summit via video message.
He said that India’s traditions and culture are the sources of his inspiration and that Indians have always lived in harmony with nature.
“Reduce, reuse, recycle, recover, re-design and re-manufacture have been part of India’s cultural ethos. India will continue to act for climate-resilient policies and practices as we have always done,” he said.
Earlier, in his speech, he said that environment and sustainable development have been the key focus areas for him all through his 20 years in office, first in Gujarat and now at the national level.
“We have heard people call our planet fragile. But it is not the planet that is fragile. It is us. We are fragile. Our commitments to the planet, to nature, have also been fragile. A lot has been said over the last 50 years, since the 1972 Stockholm Conference. Very little has been done. But in India, we have walked the talk,” he said.
The PM said that equitable energy access to the poor has been a cornerstone of his government’s environmental policy.
He spoke about Ujjwala Yojana, through which more than 90 million households have been provided access to clean cooking fuel. Under the PM-KUSUM scheme, renewable energy has been taken to the farmers. Farmers are being encouraged to set up solar panels, use it and sell surplus power to the grid.
Modi said that standalone solar pumps as well as efforts for solarising existing pumps are being scaled up. The focus on ”Chemical-free Natural Farming” will also help promote sustainability, and equity, the PM added.
He said the LED bulbs distribution scheme has helped save more than 220 billion units of electricity and 180 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
India has also announced the setting up of the National Hydrogen Mission, which aims to tap into Green Hydrogen, exciting technology to power the future.
“I encourage academic and research institutes like TERI to come up with scalable solutions to realize the potential of green hydrogen,” he said.
Luis Abinader, President of the Dominican Republic, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, Amina J Mohammed, Deputy Secretary General, United Nations, and Union Minister Bhupender Yadav were among those present on the occasion.
