Mr.
President,
Excellencies,
Ladies
and Gentlemen,
I am delighted to be in
this historic and beautiful city of Lima.
Let me first of all
express my heartfelt thanks to the Government and people of Peru and in
particular the city of Lima for their warmth and gracious hospitality.
On the occasion of the
Gender Day today, I salute the women of the world who play such a central role
in preserving nature.
Mr. President,
COP-20 in Lima I
believe is the COP of Hope.
As Ministers, we have
brought the positive expectations of our people to this meeting and we hope to
achieve a positive outcome which will set us on the path to an ambitious,
comprehensive and equitable agreement at Paris next year.
Mr. President,
The new Government in
India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi represents the hopes and aspirations
of more than a billion Indian people for growth and inclusive development. We
are pursuing action-oriented policies to bring rapid development to our people
while purposefully addressing climate change.
We have shown that we
have the vision and the political will to act.
Among the several
measures we have taken to address climate change, I would highlight just a few:
Ø We
have doubled the Clean Energy Cess on coal, which very few countries have, and
the Clean Energy Fund already has over 3 billion US dollars to be used for
promoting clean technologies
Ø Our
National Solar Mission is being scaled up five-fold from 20,000 megawatts to
100,000 megawatts. This will mean an additional investment of 100 billion
dollars and savings of about 165 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.
Ø We
are releasing 6 billion US dollars in one go for intensive afforestation which
will result in more carbon sinks.
Ø We
have allocated about 200 million US dollars for the ‘National Adaptation Fund’,
setting-up of Ultra Mega Solar Projects, Ultra-Modern Super Critical Coal Based
Thermal Power Technology, and the development of Solar Parks on canals.
Ø Yet
another initiative of the Indian Prime Minister is “100 Smart Cities’ with
integrated policies for adaptation and mitigation to reduce the vulnerability
and exposure of urban areas to climate change and also to improve their energy
efficiency for which 1.2 billion US dollars have been allocated.
Ø We
have put in place stringent norms for cement industry. Our Action Plan for
cleaning one of the longest rivers in the world, River Ganga will bring
multiple benefits of pollution reduction and climate adaptation. We have also
taken initiatives for protecting coastal, Himalayan, and forest areas.
Ø We
have initiated preparations to develop a National Air Quality Index and have
launched a National Air Quality Scheme.
Mr. President,
While there is often a
talk about changed reality, 1 in every 7 persons in the world today still lives
in abject poverty. The number of poor people in the world is more than twice
the combined population of Europe. All of them are in developing countries.
We are determined to
ensure development to all these people and provide them with basic services of
energy, water, sanitation, healthcare, education and employment.
We in India are
committed to protecting the interests of the poor. We did in it WTO for
ensuring food security of our people.
The success of India’s
endeavors in all these issues will also be critical for the success of the global
efforts for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
India is also at the
frontlines of facing the impacts of climate change. Shifting rainfall patterns,
recurring floods, stronger cyclones and droughts or soil erosion are exacerbating
the challenge of poverty eradication and necessitate the allocation of scarce
national resources for preventing loss of human life.
Despite our serious
resource constraints, we are undertaking ambitious actions to undertake
adaptation and mitigation actions, including through lowering of the energy
intensity of our economic growth, increasing energy efficiency across sectors
and making greater use of renewables.
Mr. President,
There are practical
examples of how in the past we have managed to secure successful global
cooperation to solve global problems.
Joint collaborative
research without IPR price-tag ensured ‘Green Revolution’ through hybrids,
helped in making available drugs against HIV/AIDS and for finding God Particle.
Why can’t this spirit
of joint collaboration be summoned to address climate change? Why do we want
to profit from disasters?
Mr. President,
We hope to put in place
in Lima, the stepping stones towards a post-2020 agreement under the Convention
that is comprehensive, balanced, equitable and pragmatic.
It should be able to
address the genuine requirements of the developing countries by providing them
equitable carbon space to achieve sustainable development and eradicate
poverty.
The new agreement is
under the Convention. Let us be clear, it is the 2nd commitment
period of the Kyoto Protocol that is ending in 2020, not the Convention.
Adherence to the
principles and provisions of the Convention is the key.
As India’s Prime
Minister Narendra Modi said in the UN General Assembly in September this year,
we should be honest in shouldering our responsibilities in meeting the
challenges. The beautiful balance of collective action – the principles of
equity and common but differentiated responsibilities - should form the basis
of continued action.
It is equally evident
that developing countries could do more if finance, technology support and
capacity building is ensured. This must be a key focus of the new agreement.
Mr. President,
Our ambition in the
post-2020 period is directly linked with ambitious actions in the pre-2020
period by the developed countries, otherwise the poor people in developing
countries will not get the carbon space to achieve sustainable development.
If we believe that the
global warming threat is real, then we must deliver on the agreed commitments
as a matter of priority.
It is important
therefore for developed country parties to urgently fulfill their legal
obligations in the pre-2020 period. They must scale up their mitigation
ambition now and urgently fulfill their promises for providing financial and
technological support to developing countries.
Some announcements have
been made by some countries to contribute to the Green Climate Fund. However,
the scale of these announcements remains far from what has been pledged.
Mr. President,
We firmly believe that
the INDCs are to be ‘nationally determined’. We do not see any role for any
ex-ante review in this process.
The INDCs should
include all elements including mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology and
capacity building.
Adaptation is a central
and critical priority for developing countries to address Climate Change. The
new post-2020 agreement should ensure a balance between mitigation and
adaptation. The urgent need for adaptation must be fully reflected in the new
agreement.
Mr. President,
India is committed and
ready to play its part in the global fight against climate change. We look forward
to successful conclusion to the Lima COP. In fact, we hope that this COP will
prove to be an exception to the rule and finish its work before on Friday 12th
December itself!
I thank you.
CP/GV