India hits back at Trump in war of words over climate change
INDIA - India has hit back at US President Donald Trump, after he accused the country of receiving ‘billions’ of dollars in return for signing the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
“First of all, there is absolutely no reality [in what Trump alleged]”, India’s Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj told reporters.
“India signed the Paris agreement not because of pressure from any country nor greed. We signed the agreement because of our commitment to protecting the environment.” Trump had singled out the South Asian country during a speech last week outlining his decision to end US involvement in the landmark climate deal.
“India makes its participation contingent on receiving billions and billions and billions of dollars in foreign aid from developed countries”, said Trump.
Repeating his insistence that the deal is inherently unfair, Trump referenced India’s continued reliance on fossil fuels.
“India will be allowed to double its coal production by 2020. Think of it. India can double their coal production. We’re supposed to get rid of ours.”
The vast majority of India’s power still comes from heavily-polluting coal power plants, just under two thirds of its total capacity, but India is aiming for a target of 40% renewable energy by 2030 -- including a commitment to generate 100 GW of solarbased power by 2020. (CNN. com/Photo: NewsOK.com)