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NEW DELHI, Mar 31: India has emerged as the voice of developing nations on climate change issues that can neither be suppressed not ignored, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav asserted on Thursday. Replying to a discussion on climate change in the Lok Sabha, Mr Yadav said when it comes to environment, India has always been a solution provider to the world.
He said India, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, was among the few countries that not only set Nationally Determined Contributions in 2015 but achieved them before time, setting an example for others.
Underlining that the prime minister has often talked about climate justice, Mr Yadav said developed nations who are chiefly responsible for carbon emission must take responsibility. The developed countries have acknowledged this earlier and also and pledged USD 100 billion to developing countries, he noted.
"If the fight against climate change has to be fought by the developed and developing nations together, then developed nations will have to give two facilities to developing nations -- climate finance and technology transfer," Yadav asserted.
During the COP26 meet in Glasgow, the prime minister talked about various aspects of India's fight against climate change, including the country's vision to achieve carbon neutrality by 2070, the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said.
The share of developed countries, which account for 17 per cent of the world population, in global carbon emission is 60 per cent, while that of India that's home to 17 per cent of the world's population is just 4 per cent, the minister said.
India's lifestyle can teach the world how to live in harmony with environment, he asserted.
Noting that climate change affects everyone transcending borders, Mr Yadav said the new cyclones hitting India's coastal areas in the last few years show that "we are also vulnerable".
Listing out the achievements of the Modi government in the field of climate change, he said due to the efforts it made in the last seven years, India has become a leader in environment policy and action.
Under PM Modi, India has not only come up with an environment policy that gives direction to the world but it is the only country that has taken big steps in achieving the goals set at climate summits, Yadav said.
"The time is over when India's voice was not heard on international platforms. Under Prime Minister Modi, India has created a strong identity for itself and the world community can neither suppress its voice nor ignore it," he asserted. |
