“We all know that the responsibility for carbon emissions has often been wrongly placed on developing countries. While the historical truth is that even today, India’s contribution to per capita carbon emissions is less than half of the global average,” he said at the two-day event being attended by environmental experts, Supreme Court judges, legal experts and senior government officials
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that developed nations produce six times more per capita carbon emissions than India, yet developing countries are often unfairly blamed for climate change.
Inaugurating an international conference on environment and climate, the prime minister also said that the country is working at a fast pace on nuclear energy generation.
But, he said, whenever he takes forward work on nuclear energy generation, those who preach most loudly about the environment actively oppose clean energy solutions by filing court cases to halt the government’s nuclear initiatives.
“We all know that the responsibility for carbon emissions has often been wrongly placed on developing countries. While the historical truth is that even today, India’s contribution to per capita carbon emissions is less than half of the global average,” he said at the two-day event being attended by environmental experts, Supreme Court judges, legal experts and senior government officials.
Modi said developed nations have six times more per capita carbon emissions compared to India and New Delhi strongly presents this fact on global platforms. “And I would say to every Indian: You too say this forcefully,” he said.
The prime minister said India is working with the rest of the world and is setting new standards for environmental protection. He asserted that “our development is both speedy, as well as sustainable”.
The prime minister said that India is focusing on renewable energy and is the only nation in G20 that has already fulfilled its Paris (COP 21) commitments, well before its timeline.
“This is the power of New India. Non-fossil fuels, solar energy capacity, stoppage on carbon emissions… India’s performance on all such metrics is being discussed across the world,” he said.
Modi said in the last 12 years, the country’s wind energy capacity has gone up three times and the hydro energy capacity has also seen a jump and now the country is working at a fast pace on nuclear energy generation.
“And people who give big lectures on environment, when I take forward the nuclear energy work, they will go to courts to stop it,” he said.
The prime minister said the government is also opening pathways to bring in private players in these sectors.
“With these efforts, India’s non-fossil energy capacity has grown by 400 per cent,” he said.
The prime minister said that over the past 12 years, India has made extraordinary progress in every field connected to the environment, in every sector.
“Our major focus has been on renewable energy, and this has played a significant role in environmental protection,” he said.
Modi said 12 years ago, India’s solar energy capacity was only 2 GW and today, it has crossed 160 GW.