Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a clarion call for a “global people’s movement” to bring about a behavioural change to deal with climate change as he made a path-breaking pledge to more than double India’s non-fossil fuel target to 450 gigawatts.

In his Independence Day speech, Modi had announced that India will produce 175 GW of non-fossil fuel as part of its commitment to the Paris Agreement. The announcement on September 23 during Modi’s speech at the global climate summit goes well beyond the pledge of 175 GW.

Modi noted that various efforts are being made by different countries to fight climate change and said what is needed today is a comprehensive approach which covers everything from education to values, and from lifestyle to developmental philosophy.

“The time for talks is over. The world needs to act now,” Modi asserted in the presence of US President Donald Trump, who made an unscheduled appearance at the UN summit.

India and the US differ on the issue of climate change. Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement in 2017 and blamed India and China for his decision, saying the deal was unfair as it would have made the US pay for nations that benefited the most from the deal.

Modi explains roadmap for target

India is focusing on the use of compressed biogas and the government has provided clean cooking gas to 150 million families, thus improving the health of the environment, of women and children.

The government will spend $50 billion on Jal Jeevan Mission for water conservation, rainwater harvesting and for the development of water resources in the next few years.

India and Sweden will together launch the leadership group within the industry transition track. This initiative will provide a platform for governments and the private sector with opportunities for cooperation in the area of technology innovation. This will help to develop low carbon pathways for industry.

India will launch a Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure to make its infrastructure disaster-resilient and invited UN member states to join this grouping.

Modi called for a people’s movement to end the use of single-use plastic and hoped that it will create an awareness at a global level about the harmful effects of single use plastic.

UN Climate Action Summit

The Climate Action Summit aims to boost action to implement the Paris Agreement, which was signed in 2015.

The Paris deal aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres invited all leaders to New York with concrete, realistic plans to enhance their nationally determined contributions by 2020, in line with reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent over the next decade, and to net zero emissions by 2050.

In order to ensure that the transformative actions in the real economy are as impactful as possible, Guterres has prioritised the following action portfolios, which are recognised as having high potential to curb greenhouse gas emissions and increased global action on adaptation and resilience…

Finance: Mobilising public and private sources of finance to drive decarbonisation of all priority sectors and advance resilience.

Energy Transition: Accelerating the shift away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy, as well as making significant gains in energy efficiency.

Industry Transition: Transforming industries such as oil and gas, steel, cement, chemicals and information technology.

Nature-Based Solutions: Reducing emissions, increasing sink capacity and enhancing resilience within and across forestry, agriculture, oceans and food systems, including through biodiversity conservation, leveraging supply chains and technology.

Cities and Local Action: Advancing mitigation and resilience at urban and local levels, with a focus on new commitments on low-emission buildings, mass transport and urban infrastructure; and resilience for the urban poor.

Resilience and Adaptation: Advancing global efforts to address and manage the impacts and risks of climate change, particularly in those communities and nations most vulnerable.

Mitigation Strategy: To generate momentum for ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and long-term strategies to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Youth Engagement and Public Mobilisation: To mobilise people worldwide to take action on climate change and ensure that young people are integrated and represented across all aspects of the summit, including the six transformational areas.

Social and Political Drivers: To advance commitments in areas that affect people’s well-being, such as reducing air pollution, generating decent jobs, and strengthening climate adaptation strategies and protect workers and vulnerable groups.