New Delhi
\nA clean and green environment is at the root of his government\u2019s policies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Wednesday as he was presented the UN\u2019s Champions of the Earth Award by United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.<\/p>\n
Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron were jointly awarded the UN\u2019s highest environmental honour for their pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and promoting new areas of cooperation on environmental action.<\/p>\n
In his address, Modi said climate and calamity are linked to culture, and it will be difficult to avoid calamity as long as concerns for the climate do not become a part of culture.
\nFrom agriculture and industrial policies to building houses and construction of toilets, the need for a clean environment has been driving his government\u2019s programmes, Modi said.<\/p>\n
India\u2019s commitment to environment has only increased, he said, adding that his government is working to bring down \u201cemission intensity\u201d by 20-25 per cent in the next two years against its 2005 figure and by 30-35 per cent by 2030.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have also pledged to get rid of single-use plastics by 2022,\u201d he said in his speech.<\/p>\n
Citing ancient Hindu shlokas and texts, the prime minister also referred to India\u2019s traditions to assert that respecting nature had always been part of Indian society.<\/p>\n
He said his government has succeeded in changing people\u2019s behaviour accordingly, an apparent reference to \u2018Swachhta Abhiyan\u2019.<\/p>\n
The honour bestowed on him is a recognition of Indian tribes living in forests who respect trees more than their lives, its fishermen who capture only as much fish as they need to earn their living and farmers whose lives are intertwined with the cycle of seasons, he said.<\/p>\n
It is also an honour for Indian women who have worshipped trees as gods.\u201dReuse and recycle\u201d have always been a part of their lives, the prime minister said.<\/p>\n
Indians have always treated nature as a living organism, he said.<\/p>\n
The poor are the worst victims of climate change, he said, adding that his government has been pursuing policies to further quicken the rate of economy growth to give them a life of dignity.<\/p>\n
Crores of people have come out of extreme poverty in the last few years, Modi said.<\/p>\n
Cutting edge technology and renewable energy are the basis of his government\u2019s \u201csmart city\u201d project, while \u201cper drop more crop\u201d, soil health card and organic farming are a priority in agriculture, he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New Delhi A clean and green environment is at the root of his government\u2019s policies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Wednesday as he was presented the UN\u2019s Champions of the Earth Award by United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron were jointly awarded the UN\u2019s highest environmental honour […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43667,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[312,315],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43666"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43668,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43666\/revisions\/43668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}