Cop26: PM Modi reveals India’s bold pledge of net zero emissions by 2070
Last updated on November 24th, 2021 at 08:06 am
Glasgow – The United Nations global climate summit, Cop26 began in Glasgow on Monday. The two-week-long summit is being attended by global leaders of over 200 countries. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi announced on Monday the big, bold pledge of India achieving net zero emissions by the year 2070. This marked the moment when India finally committed to a timeline of achieving a net-zero target like other countries.
During the summit on Monday, PM Modi said that India is the only nation that is ready to deliver commitments in “letter and spirit” on addressing climate change under the Paris Agreement. Prime Minister noted that though India is a large country that is home to 17 percent of the world’s population, it accounts to only 5 percent of global greenhouse emissions that pose a threat to the global climate.
He further urged the nations and global populations to consciously adopt lifestyle choices that would tackle climate change on a long way. “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 is needed that all of us come together and take forward LIFE as a movement,” the PM said.
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“India expects developed countries to make $1 trillion available as climate finance as soon as possible. As we track the progress of climate mitigation, we must also track climate finance. Justice would truly be served if pressure is put on those countries that have not lived up to their climate finance commitments,” PM added.
Sharing India’s modus operandi towards achieving this target, Prime Minister Modi said that India will ensure that by 2030, 50 percent of its energy is sourced from renewable sources of energy. This will reduce India’s carbon emissions by a billion tonnes by 2030. “India would also install 500 Gigawatt of renewable energy by 2030, a 50 gw increase from its existing targets,” Prime Minister said.
India’s pledge has been lauded by environmental activists. “I want to congratulate PM Modi and India for making a bold statement for low-carbon development. India has clearly put the ball in the court of the developed world. This is real climate action. Now, India demands $1 trillion of climate finance as soon as possible and will monitor not just climate action, but deliver climate finance. Most importantly, India has called, once again, for a change in lifestyles. If we cannot fix how we live, we cannot fix how we live on this planet,” said Dr Arunabha Ghosh, CEO and Founder, Council for Energy Environment and Water, a think tank.
