We are focused on saving our citizens and economies from the effects of the global pandemic . Equally important is to keep our focus on fighting climate change. Climate change must be fought not in silos but in an integrated, comprehensive and holistic way. Inspired by our traditional ethos of living in harmony with the environment, and the commitment of my Government, India has adopted low-carbon and climate-resilient development practices.
I am glad to share that India is not only meeting our Paris Agreement targets, but also exceeding them. India has taken concrete action in many areas. We have made LED lights popular. This saves 38 million tons of Carbon Dioxide emissions per year. Smoke free kitchens have been provided to over 80 million households through our Ujjwala Scheme. This is among the largest clean energy drives globally.
There are efforts to eliminate single-use plastics; Our forest cover is Expanding ; The lion and tiger population is increasing; We aim to restore 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030; And, we are encouraging a circular economy. India is making next-generation infrastructure such as metro networks, water-ways and more. In addition to convenience and efficiency , they will also contribute to a cleaner environment. We will meet our goal of 175 Giga Watts of renewable energy well before the target of 2022. Now, we are taking a big step ahead by seeking to achieve 450 Giga Watts by 2030.
The International Solar Alliance is among the fastest growing International Organisations, with 88 signatories . With plans to mobilise billions of dollars train thousands of stake-holders, and promote research and development in renewable energy, the ISA will contribute to reducing carbon foot-print. One more example is the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.
18 countries – including 9 from among the G20 – and 4 international organisations have already joined the Coalition . CDRI has started work on increasing resilience of critical infrastructure. Infra damage during natural disasters is a subject that has not got the attention it deserves. The poorer nations are specially impacted by this. Therefore, this Coalition is important.
This is the best time for further increasing research and innovation in new and sustainable technologies. We should do so with a spirit of cooperation and collaboration. The entire world can progress faster if there is greater support of technology and finance to the developing world.
For humanity to prosper, every single individual must prosper . Rather than seeing labour as a factor of production alone, the focus must be on the human dignity of every worker. Such an approach would be the best guarantee for safeguarding our planet.
1. Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, participated in the 15th G20 Summit convened by Saudi Arabia in virtual format, on 21-22 November, 2020. The agenda of the second day of the G 20 summit focused a session on building an inclusive, sustainable and resilient future and a side event on safeguarding the planet.
2. The Prime Minister in his speech underscored that for inclusive, resilient and sustainable recovery in a Post COVID world, effective global governance is required and reformed multilateralism through improvement in character, governance and processes of multilateral institutions is the need of the hour.
3. The Prime Minister further underscored the importance of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals aimed at ‘leaving no one behind’. He said that India is following the same principle in the ‘Reform-Perform-Transform’ strategy to move forward and inclusive development efforts that are participative.
4. With the changing situation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said that India has adopted a ‘Self Reliant India’ initiative. Following this vision, based on its competence and dependability, India will become an important and reliable pillar of World Economy and Global Supply Chains. At a global level, India also took the initiative of establishing institutions such as the International Solar Alliance and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.
5. In a recorded message at a side event on ‘Safeguarding the planet’ the Prime Minister spoke about the need to fight Climate Change in an integrated, comprehensive and holistic manner. He said that India is not only meeting Paris Agreement targets, but will be exceeding them. He emphasized that India has been inspired by its traditional ethos of living in harmony with the environment and has adopted a low carbon and climate resilient development approach. He said, for humanity to prosper, every single individual must prosper and that we should not merely see labour as a factor of production. Instead, we should focus on human dignity of every worker. Such as approach, he stated, would be the best guarantee for safeguarding our planet.
6. The Prime Minister thanked Saudi Arabia for hosting a successful Riyadh Summit and welcomed Italy as it takes over the G20 presidency in 2021. It was decided that the G20 Presidency will be held by Indonesia in 2022, India in 2023 and Brazil in 2024.
7. At the end of the Summit, a G20 Leaders’ Declaration was issued which called for coordinated global action, solidarity, and multilateral cooperation to overcome the current challenges and realize opportunities of the 21st century for all by empowering people, safeguarding the planet, and shaping new frontiers.
