At G7 session on climate, Modi urges rich nations to back India's efforts

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday called on rich nations, comprising of the G7 grouping, to support India’s efforts towards meeting its climate commitments. Addressing a G7 session on ‘Investing in a better future: climate, energy, health’, Modi said, “India’s dedication to climate commitments is evident from its performance.”

Modi, who is in Germany on a two-day visit for the summit of the G7, said, “There’s a misconception that poor countries… cause more damage to environment. But India’s history of over 1,000 years completely refutes this view. Ancient India has seen a time of immense prosperity.”

“We hope rich countries of G7 will support India’s efforts. A huge market for clean energy technologies is emerging in India,” he said.

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Modi lists India’s achievements

Modi said India has achieved the target of 40 per cent energy-capacity from non-fossil sources nine years before time. “The target of 10 per cent ethanol-blending in petrol has been achieved 5 months before time. India has the world’s first fully solar power operated airport. India’s huge railway system will become net zero in this decade,” he said.

“When a large country like India shows such ambition, other developing countries also get inspiration. We hope that the rich countries of G-7 will support India’s efforts. Today, a huge market for clean energy technologies is emerging in India,” the Prime Minister said.

Modi is attending the G7 summit held in the Alpine castle of Schloss Elmau in southern Germany following an invitation by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

He said the G7 nations can help take the innovations worked on in India during the Covid-19 pandemic to use digital tech in health sector to developing nations.

The scale that India can provide for every new technology can make that technology affordable for the whole world, he asserted.

Lifestyle for Environment

The core theories of the circular economy have been an integral part of Indian culture and lifestyle, Modi said.

“I called for a movement called LIFE – Lifestyle for Environment – in Glasgow last year. This year on World Environment Day, we launched the Global Initiative for LiFE campaign. The goal of this campaign is to encourage an eco-friendly lifestyle,” he said.

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“We can call the followers of this movement Triple-P i.e. ‘pro planet people’, and we should all take the responsibility of increasing the number of Triple-P people in our own countries. This will be our greatest contribution to the coming generations,” he said.

The G7 is an inter-governmental political grouping consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US.