Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said India, which is home to 17% of the world population, accounts for only 5% of global carbon emissions. This comment by the prime minister comes as a push back against the misconception that developing countries cause greater damage to the environment.

Addressing the session on “Investing in a better future: Climate, energy, health” at the G7 Summit in Germany, PM Modi said it is important to remember that access to energy shouldn’t be the privilege of the rich only against the backdrop of energy costs increasing due to geopolitical tensions.

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“Unfortunately, it is believed that there is a fundamental collision between the developmental goals of the world and environmental protection. There is also another misconception that poor countries and poor people cause more damage to the environment,” PM Modi said.

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“Seventeen percent of the world’s population resides in India. But our contribution to global carbon emissions is only 5%. The main reason behind this is our lifestyle, which is based on the theory of coexistence with nature,” he added.

Apart from India, countries such as Indonesia, South Africa, Argentina and Senegal have been invited to the summit of seven of the world’s largest economies in an effort to strengthen international collaboration on key issues such as climate action, health and energy security.

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India has shown over thousands of years, including in times of immense prosperity in the past and as the fastest growing large economy, that its commitment to the environment has not been “diluted even a single bit”, he said.

It can be seen that India has delivered LED bulbs and clean cooking gas door-to-door and showed millions of tons of carbon emissions can be prevented while ensuring energy for the poor.

The prime minister hoped the rich countries of G7 would support the efforts of India, a huge market for clean energy technologies.

“G7 countries can invest in research, innovation, and manufacturing in this field. The scale that India can provide for every new technology can make it affordable for the whole world,” he added.