India’s efforts in mainstreaming sustainability and reducing carbon
footprint should inspire countries across the world, Niti Aayog CEO
Amitabh Kant said on Tuesday, while pointing out that India is the only
G20 nation well on track to achieve the goals mentioned under the Paris
Agreement.
Addressing ‘Schneider Innovation India summit 2021’ virtually, Kant said
India introduced the faster adoption of electric mobility policy which
is facilitating India’s transition to clean mobility.
“Our efforts in mainstreaming sustainability and reducing our carbon
footprint should inspire countries across the world,” Kant said.
Kant mentioned that when “we talk of sustainability, and a future which
is cleaner and greener, one cannot ignore the dangers posed by climate
change”.
“India is not responsible for the situation. In fact, India is one of
the only G20 countries well on track to achieve its nationally
determined contributions,” he emphasised.
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s first major
scientific assessment since 2014 shows an unequivocally that global
warming is unfolding more quickly than feared and that humanity is
almost entirely to blame.
Noting that independent studies rate India’s efforts highly compliant
with the requirements under UNFCCC Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement,
he said, “A coalition of 14 global think tanks has rated that India is
the only G20 that has 1.5 degrees C compliant policies.”
Under the Paris agreement, the goal is to limit global warming to well
below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial
levels.
Also, Kant pointed out that India for the first time has been ranked
amongst the top 10 countries in the climate change performance index.
Kant said when it comes to roads, a sector which contributes to 90 per
cent of emissions from the transport sector, India is moving towards
electric mobility rapidly.
Observing that 2021 has been a defining milestone for the startup
ecosystem in India, the Niti Aayog CEO said at an average three startups
are turning unicorns every single month.
“We have seen 26 startups enter the unicorn club so far this year, and
we are witnessing a record number of IPOs. This is totally
unprecedented,” he said.
Kant said the vast scale of data and the massive digital footprint is
India’s biggest strength for the technological leapfrogging in
artificial intelligence and machine learning development.
“As India moves from being data rich to data intelligent, it’ll use
machine learning and AI to find solutions to a vast number of its
challenges, water availability, learning outcomes, and of course
sustainability and reduction of our carbon footprint,” he observed.
According to Kant, during this transformation, the industry should also
strive to maintain sustainability and become greener.
