New Delhi: “Climate change is a global challenge and we all should fight it here, now and today”, said Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of State(IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines while addressing a plenary session at the 11th Sustainability Summit organized here today by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).
While restating the commitment of the Government of India towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)) , Shri Goyal informed about the various progressive initiatives that the Ministries under him are taking. The Minister said that India will positively achieve the target of 40% of installed power capacity through Renewable Energy sources by 2030, as a part of the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC). This will facilitate India to achieve Sustainable and Inclusive Growth for future generations, the Minister added.
The Minister termed ‘24×7 Uninterrupted and Affordable Power for All’ as the cornerstone for achieving the 17 SDGs. It is the central factor to achieve a Sustainable and Inclusive Growth profile, whether it is hunger & poverty alleviation, health & education, water & energy security, industrial & urban growth and reducing inequality.
Shri Goyal gave a call to the Developed Nations to own up their responsibilities and honor their commitments to enable an Open Access to Low Cost, Long Tenure Financing of clean energy projects and facilitating Modern Technology transfers to Developing Nations. Shri Goyal further added that it is high time that each country focuses on limiting their carbon footprint and not shift the burden on Developing countries like India, which despite its development imperatives is zealously pursuing the path of Sustainable Development.
The Minister emphatically stated that India is on the path to quadruple its investment on Research & Development in the Renewable Energy sector in the next 5 years and it expects a similar commitment and credible action on the ground from the Developed Nations rather than giving it a mere lip service. Shri Goyal quoted the Government’s progressive interventions in the direction of achieving a ‘Green Growth’ profile like cutting down the cost of solar power by 40% in the last 2 years, procuring best quality 9W LED bulbs for just Rs. 38 per unit and distributing 600000 units per day, scaling up the solar rooftop energy solutions by 130 times to 40000MW capacity in next 6 years, thermal power plants utilizing treated wastewater from nearby municipalities, which in turn would save fresh water to meet the daily needs of around 150 million people, inter alia.
Shri Goyal, informing that Hydropower is the focus area of this Government, said that the Government is deliberating on policy amendments in order to bring large Hydropower projects (greater than 25MW) under the ambit of Renewable Energy projects which hitherto is not the case. Following this step the target of Renewable Energy capacity addition would get increased to 225 GW by 2022 from the present 175 GW and this would open a wider market for greater investments in the Renewable Energy sector, the Minister added.
In his concluding remarks, the Minister congratulated CII for holding this Summit which provides a great platform for deliberations on the issues of Climate Change and Sustainable Development. Shri Goyal appealed to the private sector to not think about personal profits and losses but to think about the future of the Nation as a whole and work in united way to fight climate change, a phenomenon he termed as a global challenge, and strive to achieve a Sustainable and Inclusive growth profile.
Also present during the event were Mr. Yuri Afanasiev, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in India, Shri Sanjiv Puri, COO ITC Ltd, Shri Ajay Shriram, past President CII. The Summit is a two day long event having sessions on various aspects of Climate Change and Sustainable Development.
