Climate Change
India Will Achieve Target Of “Net Zero” By 2070, Says PM Modi At COP26
In his speech, PM Modi presented the formal position on India’s climate action agenda and laid out the best practices and achievements in the sector
New Delhi: “By 2070, India will achieve the target of ‘net zero’,” announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech at Glasgow’s Scottish Exhibition Centre where he is attending the opening ceremony of the COP26 climate summit. PM Modi further added that more passengers than the entire population of the world travel by Indian Railways every year. This huge railway system has set itself a target of making itself ‘Net Zero’ by 2030. “This initiative alone will reduce emissions by 60 million tonnes per annum,” he added. In his speech, the Prime Minister also listed how the Indian government’s projects like Har Ghar Jal, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Ujjwala Scheme have not only provided adaptation benefits to the Indians in need but also improved their quality of life.
Here are the major takeaways from PM Modi's speech at COP26:
- Just like in India, climate change is a big challenge for the agriculture sector in most developing countries. There are changes in the cropping patterns, untimely rains/floods, and crops are often destroyed by typhoons.
- Instead of mindless consumption, we need mindful and deliberate utilisation. World today admits that lifestyle has a major role in climate change. I propose one word movement before all of you. This word is LIFE which means Lifestyle for Environment. Today, it’s needed that all of us come together and take forward LIFE as a movement.
- At this global brainstorming on climate change, I present 5 ‘amrit tatva’ from India. I gift this ‘panchamrit’.
- India will bring its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030.
- By 2030 India will fulfill 50% of its energy requirement through renewable energy.
- India will cut down its net projected carbon emission by 1 billion ton from now until 2030.
- By 2030, India will bring down carbon intensity of its economy by more than 45 per cent.
- By 2070, India will achieve the target of ‘net zero’.
- India constitutes 17% of global population and India’s contribution to the emission has only been 5%. But today, the entire world admits that India is the only major economy which has delivered on Paris agreements in letter and spirit.
- It’s need of hour to put pressure on those countries that have failed to deliver on their promises about climate finance.
Also Read: Explainer: What Is COP26 And Why Is It So Important For Tackling Climate Change Crisis?
PM Modi also asserted on increasing the Climate Finance to $1 Trillion from the previously committed but never delivered $1 billion, and added that the promises made regarding climate finance had proven to be hollow until now. He said,
India expects developed nations to make climate finance of $1 trillion available at the earliest. Today it’s important to track climate finance just like we track the progress of climate mitigation. While we are all raising our climate action goals, the world’s ambitions on climate finance cannot remain the same as they were at the time of the Paris Agreement. The entire world admits that India is the only major economy which has delivered on the Paris agreements in letter and spirit.
Prior to the address, PM Modi met his British counterpart Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the COP26 climate summit and discussed ways to enhance bilateral cooperation in areas like green hydrogen, renewables and clean technology, economy and defence.
The interaction, soon after the opening ceremony of the World Leaders’ Summit at COP26, was scheduled to focus on the UK-India climate partnership as well as a review of the 2030 Roadmap for stronger UK-India strategic ties signed by the two leaders during a virtual summit in May this year.
Prime Minister Modi congratulated PM Johnson for successfully organising the COP26 and for his personal leadership in championing global action for climate change mitigation and adaptation. He reiterated India’s commitment to closely work with the UK on climate finance, technology, innovation and adaptation green hydrogen, renewables and clean technologies including joint initiatives under the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), the Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release.
Also Read: India’s Agenda At COP26: What You Need To Know
The COP26 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) kicked off in Glasgow under the Presidency of the UK partnering with Italy. It brings all parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
NDTV and 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.
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