World not doing enough to deal with climate change, Modi tells UN

The world is not doing enough to overcome a serious challenge like climate change, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday (September 23) while addressing top leaders in New York.

Speaking at the summit, the Prime Minister further called for a “global people’s movement” to bring about a behavioural change to deal with issue.

Besides, he announced that India would increase the share of non-fossil fuel and increase the country’s renewable energy capacity beyond 175 GW. “We will increase our renewable energy capacity to much beyond 175 GW and take it further to 400 GW,” he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

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In his Independence Day speech, the Prime Minister had announced that India will produce 175 GW of non-fossil fuel as part of its commitment to the Paris Climate agreement.

This comes a day after Modi and US President Donald Trump shared stage at the mega diaspora event ‘Howdy, Modi!’ in Houston on Sunday. However, on climate change, the two countries are wide variant.

In 2017, Trump had withdrawn from the Paris deal while blaming India and China for his decision. He had said that the agreement was unfair as it would have made US pay for nations which benefitted the most from it, PTI reported.

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“We must accept that if we have to overcome a serious challenge like climate change, then what we are doing at the moment is just not enough,” Modi told world leaders at the summit organised by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

Further noting that efforts are being made by different countries to fight climate change, the Prime Minister said that the world needs a comprehensive approach that covers everything from education to values and lifestyle to developmental philosophy.

(With inputs from agencies)