New Delhi: India has emerged as a leader in the fight against climate change and ensured a balance between development and conservation, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Thursday (June 22). He said India achieved the target of 40 per cent of its installed electricity generation capacity being from non-fossil energy sources nine years ahead of schedule.
As part of its updated nationally determined contributions or national plans to fight climate change, India now stands committed to achieving about 50 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.
With an installed renewable energy capacity of 175.74 Giga Watts (including large hydro), which is about 42.6 per cent of the country’s total capacity (as on March 2023), India stands fourth in the world, the minister said. He listed the achievements of his ministry in the nine years of the Modi government and minister Yadav told a press conference,
Its installed renewable energy capacity has increased by 396 per cent in the last nine years
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India’s installed solar energy capacity has increased 25.6 times in the last nine years, and stands at 67 GW as of March 2023. The country’s forest cover has expanded from 6.98 lakh square kilometers to 7.14 lakh square kilometers, while the mangrove cover has grown from 4,663 square kilometers to 4,992 square kilometers. The population of tigers has risen from 2,226 to 3,167, and the number of Asiatic lions has increased from 523 to 674, the minister said, adding the leopard population has also grown from 7,090 to 12,852, and the count of one-horned rhinoceros has risen from 2,600 to 3,000.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – theLGBTQ population,indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the currentCOVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water,SanitationandHygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fightmalnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health,adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues likeair pollution,waste management,plastic ban,manual scavengingand sanitation workers andmenstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India wheretoiletsare used andopen defecation free (ODF)status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched byPrime Minister Narendra Modiin 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
