United Nations: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the world was not doing enough to tackle the climate crisis and called for "global behavioural change" at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York.
"Need and not greed is our guiding principle. India is here today to not only talk about the seriousness of this issue but to present a practical approach and a roadmap. We believe that an ounce of practice is worth more than a ton of teaching."
Listening to him with rapt attention was US President Donald Trump, who made a brief unscheduled appearance at the Summit. None-theless, the president listened intently for about 10 minutes before departing for his religious freedom event.
Trump has repeatedly expressed doubts about the overwhelming scientific consensus on manmade causes of global warming. In 2017, Trump withdrew the US from the 2016 the Paris Climate Agreement.
PM Modi also told the gathering that India would increase the non-fossil fuel share in its fuel mix and enhance its renewable energy capacity to 175 Gigawatts by 2022. "We are committed to further increasing this to 450 Gigawatts," he added.
The Prime Minister said that in India, e-mobility and bio fuel mixture in petrol are being encouraged, while clean cooking gas has been provided to 150 million families.
He also said that water conservation and rain water harvesting have begun under the Mission Jal Jeevan. "We are going to spend $50 billion on this in the next few years," he said.Modi said that 80 countries are part of the International Solar Alliance.
Stating that a Coalition for Disaster Resistant Infrastructure is being initiated, Modi said, "I urge all the countries to join in."He also said that India will inaugurate solar panels in the UN General Assembly."The time for talking is over, the world needs to act now," he said.
