India To Pitch For Reduction In Carbon Emissions At COP 26

New Delhi: In the upcoming 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 26), India is likely to pitch high on lessening carbon emissions, said the Union Ministry of Environment sources on Friday (October 22). The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in recent time held several bilateral meetings with other countries. “India historically stands at 4.5 per cent total emissions and to make it actually work, developed countries should do it before 2050. There should be a compensation mechanism and the expenditure should be brought by the developed nations,” Ministry sources told ANI.

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When it comes to carbon emission, China emits 8.4 tons per person whereas the US emits 18.6 tons per person. The European Union emits 7.16 tons. As per the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, it has been stated that all countries need to achieve net-zero by 2050 to keep the global temperature rise under 1.5 degrees Celsius. As per the data in 2018 carbon emissions data, China tops the list with 10.06 GT, the US emitted 5.41 GT and India emitted 2.65 GT.

At present, the temperature rose to 1.2 degrees Celsius due to which the natural impacts are visible. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target of generating 450 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030. A virtual meeting by Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) was held on October 18 with the theme “Preparations for COP 26 on Climate Change-Expectations and Challenges” that stressed on rapid reduction of emissions is required during the current decade. This crucial two-week annual summit COP 26 commencing from October 31 this year, was planned for 2020 but was postponed following COVID-19 pandemic.

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NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via 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 – the LGBTQ 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 current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) 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, fight malnutrition, 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,  that 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 like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.