The 26th United Nations Conference of Parties or UN COP-26 began in Glasgow on Monday. In his opening speech, PM Narendra Modi took the global forum by surprise by announcing 2070 as an ambitious and highly awaited net-zero target for India.
Modi also spoke on behalf of all developing countries, emphasising the urgent need for the developed world to deliver on their promises of climate finance.
The net-zero target was announced as a part of five goals or 'panchamrit' by Modi.
PM Modi's 5 Big Goals for India:
1. Achieving net-zero by 2070
2. Reducing total projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes starting now till 2030
3. Increasing renewable energy component to 50% of our total energy requirements by 2030
4. Reducing carbon intensity by 45% by 2030
5. Increasing non-fossil energy capacity to reach 500 GW by 2030
Other than declaring these 5 important goals, PM Modi also spoke about the concerns of developing countries at large and specifically India. Here are a few crucial statements made by the PM:
Indian Railways Will Be Net-Zero by 2030
"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."
One Trillion Dollars Needed Under Climate Finance
"India expects developed nations to make climate finance of one trillion dollars available at the earliest. Today it's important to track climate finance just like we track the progress of climate mitigation."
"It would be appropriate justice to create pressure on nations that don't meet their own promises of climate finance."
"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."
Climate Change: A Challenge for Agriculture
"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."
"Adaptation has not received as much importance as mitigation. This is injustice to developing nations that are impacted by climate change more. In India, climate change is a big challenge for agriculture."
LIFE: Lifestyle for Environment
"The world today admits that lifestyle has a major role in climate change. I propose a 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."
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