How does India taken a leadership role in tackling climate change?
PM Modi has moved from an inconvenient truth to convenient action. How India has taken a leadership role in tackling climate change, what we can do as a change maker for environment.
Our honorable prime minister wrote a book ‘’ Convenient Action’’ which was based on climate change. The sole purpose of writing this book was how to adapt and reduce the impact of climate change. This book was written by PM MODI when he was in chief minister of Gujrat. So, our honorable prime minister become aware of climate change from that time itself. Even today, he is making citizen aware about climate change and how people have to reduce climate change so that our coming generation can be safe. We have to unite for climate change we have only one life, the world has to unite for climate change. PM MODI said we need a comprehensive approach, for that we have to change our lifestyle and also change our development priorities. India has always been at the fore in its mission to combat climate change.
How India has taken a leadership role in tackling climate change
The government has taken many such steps towards climate change which will be beneficial for the future which are like this –
In renewable energy
India will produce 175GW in renewable energy by 2022, our government has also said after achieving the target 175GW, we will make our target 450GW. India’s electricity demand is going to be 2300GW by 2050, so renewable energy will play a major role. India has set a target by 2022, has also worked at the ground level to achieve those targets like 175GW of renewable energy to be made by 2022.
Sustainability
E-mobility solution are being fast tracked by India. In India, now electric vehicles are being used instead of diesel and petrol vehicles and due to which air pollution has also reduced which is huge contribution to climate change. To promote electric vehicles, the government of India had launched the FAME-II scheme. FAME-II scheme aim to boost electric mobility and increase the number of electric vehicles in commercial fleets.
Water preservation
In the field of water conservation also, our government has taken many steps like Rain water harvesting of Jal shakti mission was launched for this, the sole purpose of this mission is ‘’to improve the water conservation. changing the way, we use water will help to strengthen our planet’s and reduce the risk of extreme weather events that make water more polluted, and scarce. This could involve using less fresh water for showering, collecting and using rain water for growing crop or house cleaning or improving our system for managing waste water.
Coalition towards resilient future
Our respected Prime minister Mr. Narendra Modi along with former French president Mr. Francois Hollande formed International solar alliance (ISA) in 2015 and till now 102 countries have signed the ISA agreement. The coalition will work towards common goal of establishing infrastructures which resilient to preserve of climate change.
2) India is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and significant measures are needed to build climate resilience and assist communities with adaptation. Several programmes are already underway in many parts of India, often in partnership with local financial institutions and grassroots non governmental organisations that are working with local communities on project implementation. Auto fuel vision and policy, sustainable habitat mission, Namami Gange National mission for clean Ganga these are major initiative taken by government of India. Through its corporate social responsibility programmes and other initiatives, Indian industry is also promoting sustainable livelihoods and infrastructure development across the country. Additionally, there are measures that India can take to promote sustainable and inclusive growth in a less carbon-intensive manner. Many of these actions will have to be designed and implemented by industry and civil society organisations. Recognising the important role that non-state actors must play in shaping India’s response to climate change, the Government of India is taking steps to make this an inclusive and consultative process and invites the participation of all communities, non-governmental organisations and industry. India is also one of the world’s fastest-growing generators of renewable energy. PM Modi’s focus will likely to immerge India as a part of the solution to climate change, rather than being part of the problem. In 26th UN Climate Change Conference PM told world leaders that by 2030 half of India’s power would be generated by renewable energy. India is serious about transitioning to green technologies. There is no choice because scientists have pointed out. India is in a region that is particularly vulnerable to climate change. Government of India also launched National Action Plan on Climate change number of measures that simultaneously advance the country’s development and climate change related objectives of adaptation and mitigation. To establish India as a global leader in solar energy Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission launched by GOI. To protect the Himalayan biodiversity Indian government launched National mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem the main objective of this
mission is to evolve management measures for sustaining and safeguarding the Himalayan glaciers and mountain ecosystem and attempt to address key issues namely impacts of climate change on the Himalayan glaciers, biodiversity, wildlife conservation and livelihood of traditional knowledge societies. India also has been successful in establishing bilateral relation with several countries on key mareas of development and growth. One such area that has gained prominence in last few decades is environment and clean technology. “India has achieved its voluntary target of reducing emissions intensity of its GDP by 21% by 2020. The country is also nearing its 2015 goal of achieving about 40% share of non-fossil fuel-based electricity generating capacity.
3) “Climate change is a live reality for millions around the world. Their lives and livelihoods are already facing its adverse consequences. For humanity to combat climate change, concrete action is needed. We need such action at a high speed, on a large scale and with a global scope.” – PM Narendra Modi
The contemporary world is marked by large patches of climate change that are like danger signs on the road to a greener future. The adverse impacts of climate change are already being witnessed, thereby raising the alarm to take concrete steps as soon as possible in this regard. India under PM Modi has addressed climate change by taking practical steps in different domains such as energy consumption and generation, household fuel consumption, vehicle emissions, transport efficiencies. The primary initiative that highlights PM’s objective to address climate change was renaming the Ministry of Environment and Forests as Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The government has given impetus to energy consumption and generation through UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All) mission. Through this, over 36 crore LEDs have been distributed so far, reducing about 38.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per annum. Under the guidance of PM Narendra Modi, India has also taken active steps in renewable energy sector. Even during his tenure as the CM of Gujarat, he came up with the idea of canal- top solar power plants. Over the years, India under the active leadership of PM Modi has steered its way to become the fifth largest country in the world after China, US, Japan, Germany in terms of total installed solar capacity. Another initiative which aligns with PM’s thought on renewable energy is the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) scheme under which farmers would be provided funds to set up standalone solar pumps to replace kerosene- based irrigation pumps. PM’s commitment towards environment goals is also highlighted through the Ujjwala scheme. This scheme launched in 2016 aimed to provide free LPG connection to families below the poverty line. Most of the BPL families use coal, wood, dung as a cooking fuel and this significant step by the government helped in reducing exposure of women and children to indoor air pollutants. Ths initiatives taken by the Prime Minister has propelled the idea of India as a nation working vigorously towards tackling climate change. To promote cleaner fuels, PM acted proactively by shifting BS- IV norms to BS- VI. The government has also planned to promote the idea of electric vehicles. In order to encourage faster adoption of electric vehicles, FAME – II (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles) was materialized on 1st April, 2019. PM has also taken active steps in setting up metro services in different cities. Increased metro coverage has played a pivotal role in reducing carbon emissions from vehicles. Moreover, India also launched National Hydrogen Energy Mission which would capitalize hydrogen, a much cleaner fuel as an energy source.
PM has also encouraged global initiatives like International Solar Alliance, LeadIT, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, One Sun, One World, One Grid. Moreover, the COP 26 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in 2021 in Glasgow also witnessed India’s commitments towards climate action. India made a commitment to achieve the target of net zero carbon emissions by 2070. PM also recently launched a global initiative called Lifestyle for the Environment (LiFE) Movement which highlights environment conscious lifestyle as a prime solution to climate change.
PM Modi has executed various climate friendly initiatives and India under his active guidance has established itself as an eco- conscious nation. By personally leading tree plantation drives, materializing different schemes (ex- Namami Gange, Ujjwala Yojana, etc), he has been successful in motivating citizens to take action in this context.
We, as active Indian citizens can also take steps to tackle climate change. One can use eco- friendly products, form environment clubs and raise awareness about adopting an eco- conscious lifestyle. One can also act as volunteers in spreading the underlined cause through plantation drives, cleanliness drives, etc. All in all, with determined efforts, one can become a changemaker for the environment and make efforts towards a sustainable future.
(These are 3 different blogs collated as a single blog written by our MyGov Interns Richa Singh, Gaurav and Amisha).
