Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday not only assured climate experts that India is on the track to achieve its Paris Agreement targets but also pledged that his country will exceed the world's expectations in implementing actions to counter climate change by 2047, marking the 100th anniversary of India as a modern and independent nation.
In his speech at the UN Climate Ambition Summit, he said that on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement - the most ambitious step in the fight against climate change - the world shouldn't lose sight of historical emissions.
A step to fight climate change
The Prime Minister called for a review of actions taken by all countries based on the commitments they had made under the agreement.
"Today, as we are looking to set our sights even higher, we must also not lose sight of the past. We must not only revise our ambitions but also review our achievements against targets already set. Only then can our voices be credible for future generations. India is not only on track to achieve Paris targets but to exceed them beyond your expectations," he said.
The prime minister added that "India has reduced its emission intensity by 21 per cent over 2005 levels. Our solar capacity has grown from 2.63 GigaWatts in 2014 to 36 GigaWatts in 2020. Our renewable energy capacity is the fourth largest in the world. It will reach 175 GigaWatts before 2022. And, we have an even more ambitious target now - 450 GigaWatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030."
In his pledge, PM Modi said, "In 2047, India will celebrate 100 years as a modern, independent nation. To all my fellow residents of this planet, I make a solemn pledge today. Centennial India will not only meet its own targets but will also exceed your expectations."
5th anniversary of the Paris Agreement
The Climate Ambition Summit is hosted by the United Nations and the United Kingdom to mark the fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Paris Agreement.
The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change which was adopted by 196 parties at 21st Conference of Parties in Paris, on December 12, 2015, and entered into force on November 4, 2016. The important virtual summit being co-hosted by France in partnership with Chile and Italy will allow governments to present their commitment and compliance with the Paris Agreement.
The summit highlighted the fast-growing coalition of countries, cities, regions, businesses and investors committing to net-zero emissions and boosting ambition in climate finance, and resilience and adaptation, said an official statement.
Ahead of the conference, India had underlined that it has been responsible for the commitments under the Paris Agreement but most of the developed world which is responsible for historical emissions hasn't shown much progress.
"Five years after Paris we are still not going in the right direction. Paris promised to limit global temperature which rose to as close to 1.5 degrees as possible. The commitments made under Paris were far from enough to get there and even now those commitments are not being met.
Today, we are 1.2 degrees hotter than we were before the industrial revolution. If we don't change course, we may be headed for a catastrophic temperature rise of more than 3 degrees C this century. Can we still deny we are facing a climate emergency?" UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres asked at the Summit.
