Climate change must be fought not in silos but in an
integrated, comprehensive and holistic way, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said
at a G20 event on Sunday and asserted that the entire world can progress faster
if there is greater support of technology and finance to developing nations.

Addressing the G-20 summit side event — ‘Safeguarding the
Planet: The Circular Carbon Economy Approach’, Modi said India is not only
meeting its Paris Agreement targets, but also exceeding them.

“Inspired by our traditional ethos of living in harmony
with the environment, and the commitment of my government, India has adopted
low-carbon and climate-resilient development practices,” he said.

The entire world can progress faster if there is greater
support of technology and finance to the developing world, the prime minister
asserted.

“For humanity to prosper, every single individual must
prosper. Rather than seeing labour as a factor of production alone, the focus
must be on the human dignity of every worker,” Modi said.

Such an approach would be the best guarantee for
safeguarding the planet, he said.

Modi said that in times of COVID-19 when everyone is focused
on saving citizens and economies from the effects of the global pandemic, it is
equally important to keep focus on fighting climate change.

“Climate change must be fought not in silos but in an
integrated, comprehensive and holistic way,” he said and highlighted that
India is not only meeting its Paris Agreement targets, but also exceeding them.
India is a signatory to the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change. The Paris accord was adopted at the UN climate
conference “COP 21” held in the French capital in 2015 with an aim to
reduce hazardous greenhouse gas emissions.

Underlining that India has taken concrete action in many
areas, Modi said the country has made LED lights popular and noted that this
saves 38 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emission per year.

“Smoke free kitchens have been provided to over 80
million households through our Ujjwala Scheme. This is among the largest clean
energy drives globally,” he said.

“There are efforts to eliminate single-use plastics;
our forest cover is expanding; the lion and tiger population is increasing; we
aim to restore 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030; and we are
encouraging a circular economy,” the prime minister said.

India is making next-generation infrastructure such as metro
networks, water-ways and more, Modi said, adding that in addition to
convenience and efficiency, they will also contribute to a cleaner environment.

“We will meet our goal of 175 gigawatts of renewable
energy well before the target of 2022. Now, we are taking a big step ahead by
seeking to achieve 450 gigawatts by 2030,” he said.

Modi also pointed out that the International Solar Alliance
(ISA) is among the fastest growing international organisations, with 88
signatories.

With plans to mobilise billions of dollars, train thousands
of stakeholders, and promote research and development in renewable energy, ISA
will contribute to reducing carbon footprint, he said. Modi also cited the
example of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), saying
18 countries, including nine from among the G20 and four international
organisations, have already joined the coalition.

The CDRI has started work on increasing resilience of
critical infrastructure, he noted, and asserted that infra damage during
natural disasters is a subject that has not got the attention it deserves. The
poorer nations are specially impacted by this and therefore, this coalition is
important, Modi added.

Noting that this is the best time for further increasing
research and innovation in new and sustainable technologies, Modi said it
should be done with a spirit of cooperation and collaboration.