He called upon developed country parties, once again, to do their part as envisaged under UNFCCC and Paris Agreement, for extending financial and technological support to developing countries. The Environment Minister said, the promise of one trillion dollars by 2020 has not been fulfilled so far, and expressed hope that in the remaining 5 months of 2020, the promised amount will be mobilized and delivered for further strengthening climate actions in developing countries.
Highlighting India’s efforts, the Environment Minister said, India has achieved reduction of 21 percent in emission intensity of its GDP between 2005 and 2014, thereby achieving its pre-2020 voluntary target. He said, India’s renewable energy installed capacity has increased by 226 percent in last 5 years and stands at more than 87 Gigawatt. He said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has further announced the aspirational target of increasing renewable energy capacity to 450 GW.
The minister further said that government has provided 80 million LPG connections in rural areas, providing them with clean cooking fuel and healthy environment.
Highlighting India’s efforts towards cleaner fuel, the Minister said that India has also leapfrogged from Bharat Stage-IV to Bharat Stage-VI emission norms by 1st April this year which was earlier to be adopted by 2024. The Minister also highlighted how India had levied a coal cess of 400 rupees as, part of one of the most explicit green initiatives and this is now subsumed under Goods and Services Tax.