India voluntarily, unilaterally enhanced self-declared commitments of renewable energy: Shringla
Nov 02, 2021
Glasgow [UK], November 2 : India voluntarily and unilaterally enhanced its self-declared commitments in terms of renewable energy at the 26th session of the Conference of Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Tuesday at Special Briefing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Glasgow.
"The 'Panch Amrit' that Prime Minister announced was very very carefully thought through and considered. The statement of the Prime Minister also outlined some of the steps India had already taken," the Foreign Secretary said during the briefing.
"We voluntarily and unilaterally enhanced our self-declared commitments in terms of renewable energy," he added.
While noting that India intends to keep its climate targets, Shringla said that the Prime Minister during his address at COP26 highlighted how commitments at the climate summit are not seen through.
"One of the points the Prime Minister made is that a lot of commitments are made at summits of Paris and Glasgow nature. And these commitments are not seen through. They are like routine announcements that countries make and don't monitor carefully," he said.
Answering a question of aspiration of developing countries, Shringal said, "While there was greater pressure on climate action, there should be equal pressure on commitment on climate financing. While developing countries are interested in achieving the climate-related targets, at the same time they need the means to deliver on those commitments."
On Tuesday, Foreign Secretary had said that India's new target of 500 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy by 2030, announced at COP26, is a "very significant" contribution to meeting the goals of the climate summit.
"The Prime Minister spoke at the summit of 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030. By all means, this is a very very significant contribution to the overall area of climate change and in meeting the goals of the summit, considering that India comprises one-sixth of humanity," Shringla had said in a briefing.
The Foreign Secretary had also informed that PM Modi at COP 26 announced that by 2030, 50 per cent of India's energy needs would be met from renewable energy sources. The Prime Minister also stated that India will reduce its carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes from now until 2030, he added. PM India has spoken about net-zero by 2070," he said.
