World not doing enough on climate change: PM
Calls for behavioural change, asks nations to join disaster resilience coalition
NEW YORK: The international community needs to act immediately on climate change as the steps taken so far by countries to overcome this serious challenge are not enough, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a United Nations summit on Monday.
Addressing the Global Climate Action Summit organised by UN secretary general Antonio Guterres, Modi called on countries to join the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure launched by India, which will be a loose collective of countries with capacity in handling post-disaster infrastructure development.
“Various efforts are being made by different countries to fight climate change but 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 said.
He added: “The time for talking is over, the world needs to act now.”
Modi listed his government’s efforts to cut single use plastic, increase renewable energy capacity to 175 GW by 2022, and conserve water through the Jal Jeevan Mission.
The need, he said, is a comprehensive approach that “covers education, values and everything from lifestyle to developmental philosophy”. “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 said at the UN summit “The time for talking is over. The world needs to act now… What we need is a global people's movement to bring about behavioural change,” he added.
The PM said that by 2022 “we will increase our renewable energy capacity to much beyond 175GW and we are committed to take it further to 450GW.” “Need, not greed has been our guiding principle”
He invited UN member states to join the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure launched by India. The coalition will be a grouping of about 30 developed and developing nations that will aim to work for infrastructure resilient to climate and disaster