India has walked the talk on commitments to deal with climate change, says PM Modi at TERI summit

New Delhi [India], February 16 (ANI): Noting that India has walked the talk on its commitments to address the global challenge of climate change, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said equitable energy access to the poor has been a cornerstone of the government's environmental policy.
In his inaugural address at TERI's World Sustainable Development Summit, the Prime Minister said environment and sustainable development have been key focus areas for him all through his 20 years in office, first in Gujarat and now at the national level.
"We have heard people call our planet fragile. But it is not the planet that is fragile. It is us. We are fragile. Our commitments to the planet, to nature, have also been fragile. A lot has been said over the last 50 years, since the 1972 Stockholm Conference. Very little has been done. But in India, we have walked the talk," he said in a video message.
"Equitable energy access to the poor has been a cornerstone of our environmental policy. Through Ujjwala Yojana, more than 90 million households have been provided access to clean cooking fuel. Under the PM-KUSUM scheme, we have taken renewable energy to the farmers," he added.
PM Modi said the government is encouraging farmers to set up solar panels and sell surplus power to the grid.
"Standalone solar pumps as well as efforts for solarising existing pumps are being scaled up. The focus on 'Chemical-free Natural Farming' will also help promote sustainability, and equity," he said.
He said the LED bulbs distribution scheme has been running for over seven years and has helped save more than 220 billion units of electricity and 180 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
"We have announced the setting up of the National Hydrogen Mission. It aims to tap into Green Hydrogen, an exciting technology to power our future. I encourage academic and research institutes like TERI to come up with scalable solutions to realize the potential of green hydrogen," he said.
World Sustainable Development Summit is TERI's annual flagship event. The theme for this year's Summit is 'Towards a Resilient Planet: Ensuring a Sustainable and Equitable Future'. The Summit will discuss a wide range of issues including climate change, sustainable production, energy transitions, global commons and resource security.
The three-day summit is being attended by President of Dominican Republic Luis Abinader, President of Guyana Irfaan Ali, Deputy Secretary General of United Nations, heads of various intergovernmental organizations, ministers and envoys from more than a dozen countries and delegates from over 120 countries. (ANI)