Address of the MEFCC on Green Economy Development in the Interest of
Sustainability and Competitiveness during the first official meeting of
Environment Ministers of BRICS Countries on April 22, 2015 in Moscow,
Russian Federation
1. His Excellencies, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Russian
Federation, Mr. Sergey Efimovich Donskoy; Minister for Environmental
Protection, People’s Republic of China, Mr. Zhou Shengxian; Her
Excellencies, Minister of Environment of Brazil, Ms. Izabella Teixeira and
Minister of Water and Environment of South Africa, Ms. Edna Molewa and
Executive Director, UNEP, Dr. Achim Steiner.
2. I feel privileged to participate in the first meeting of Environment Ministers of
BRICS countries, more so as this meeting is being held prior to two very
important global negotiations on Post-2015 Development Agenda and CoP
21 to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
3. The topic of discussion “Green Economy Development in the Interest of
Sustainability and Competitiveness” is very relevant today. In this context, I
would like to recall that we have three important conventions which originated
from the Rio Declaration namely United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and
United Nations Convention on Combating Desertification. As we initiate
discussions on green economy, we need to carefully delineate actions that
need to be further strengthened which are already agreed under these
Conventions and Agreements. We need to ensure that the already agreed
principles that contribute towards green development are not reopened for
further discussions but are further strengthened by ensuring poverty
eradication and equitable development continues to remain central to our
approach.
4. While there is no agreed definition of green economy it is inferred as an
economy that is able to reduce environmental risk and ecological destruction.
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We on our part have embarked upon a developmental path that is based on
development without destruction. Our Hon’’ble Prime Minister has been in
the forefront of espousing the cause of environment and has emphasized the
need for development in consonance with rich tradition of India.
5. In India, we have centuries old tradition of environmental consciousness and
sustainable development. Our forefathers recognized the importance of
nature from the very beginning and this has formed our rich cultural
inheritance. Since time immemorial, we have worshiped the Sun, the Earth,
rivers, trees, animals and birds. We recognise that there is God in everything
and care for our environment comes naturally to us.
6. Continuing with this tradition, we have enacted an elaborate set of laws to
protect our environment. The Environment (protection) Act, the Forest
Conservation Act, the Wildlife Protection Act, The Air (Prevention and Control
of Pollution) Act, The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, The
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act are only some of the examples of what
we have been doing. Our Constitution, which is the highest law of our
country, lists protection of environment, including forests, lakes, rivers and
wildlife as well as compassion for living creatures as one of the fundamental
duties of our citizens. Not only this, the Directive Principles of State Policy
mandates the state to protect the environment and wildlife of our country.
7. In India, our vision is "sustainable economic growth without compromising on
environmental safety”. India’s development plans are crafted with a balanced
emphasis on economic development and environment. The country has
witnessed the introduction of landmark environmental measures targeting
conservation of rivers, improvement of urban air quality, enhanced
forestation, a significant increase in installed capacity of renewable energy
technologies, shift towards public transport, enhancing rural and urban
infrastructure, etc.
8. Under the National Action Plan on Climate change (NAPCC), we have the 8
Missions on Solar Energy, Energy Efficiency, Sustainable Habitat, water,
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Sustainable Agriculture, Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem, Mission for
Green India and Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change. We have set up a
National Clean Energy Fund in 2010 out of cess on coal which recently has
been doubled to Rs.200 per tonne. A ‘National Adaptation Fund’ with an
initial corpus of 200 million USD has been set up to support adaptation
actions.
9. We recognize the role of energy in our lives. Our electricity consumption is
way below the average of developed nations. However, we intend ambitious
addition to our power generation capacity over the next few years to meet
our development goals. We are giving priority to solar power. Our National
Solar Mission is being scaled up fivefold from 20,000 MW to 100,000 MW.
This will mean an additional investment of 100 billion dollars and savings of
about 165 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. We look forward for
assistance in this regard including cutting age technology from developed
nations so that we are able to achieve these targets without having to resort
to energy intensive growth witnessed by the developed nations. This can be
done only if we are assisted by developed nations in leapfrogging in
technology and this requires thinking beyond our immediate commercial
needs.
10. The growing levels of air and water pollution, especially in cities, and its
impact on the health of all living beings, is a matter of great concern. India is
aligning its environmental regulations to check the increasing menace of air
pollution and water pollution. National Ambient Air Quality standards have
been notified in 2009.
Recently, our Hon’ble Prime Minister has also
launched the ‘National Air Quality Index’ to monitor the air pollution levels in
major cities.
11. In India, we have taken affirmative action towards greening our building
sector as well. We have launched the ‘Energy Conservation Building
Codes’ (ECBC) in May 2007. Environmental Rating Tools for buildings have
been developed to evaluate the environmental performance of a building
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holistically over its entire life cycle, thereby providing a definitive standard for
what constitutes a ‘green building’.
12. We have been striving towards attaining sustainability in the transport sector
as well. We have made huge investments in setting up Mass Rapid Urban
Transport System like Metro rails / mono rails in all our major metropolitan
cities to provide a safe, economical and viable mode of transport to the urban
population with a view to discourage use of the personal vehicles. I am
delighted to inform you that the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has been
certified by the United Nations(UN) as the First Metro Rail and Rail based
system in the world which will get carbon Credits for reducing Green House
Gas Emissions as it has helps to reduce pollution levels in the city by 6.3
lakh tons every year thus helping in reducing global warming. We are
constructing Dedicated Railway Freight Corridors for unhindered and smooth
movement of goods carriage in various parts of the country. Another major
initiative that was taken by the erstwhile Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Atal
Behari Vajpayee was the Golden Quadrilateral which is a unique highway
network connecting many of the major industrial, agricultural and cultural
centres of India in a sustainable manner.
13. Our Prime Minister has given the slogan: ‘Development without Destruction’.
Needless to say, green economy must be more resource efficient. Greater
resource efficiency can only be achieved through continuous and sustainable
technological innovation. We have emphasised the need for technology
transfer time and again but very little progress has been achieved despite
several agreements and many years after Rio. Sustainable development can
only be achieved through leap-frogging in technology. In this context, it is
important that we arrive at a concrete decision on establishing a mechanism
for technology transfer during the ongoing negotiations on Post 2015
Development Agenda and other ongoing negotiations.
14. Any discussion regarding green economy cannot be complete without
discussing fairness and equity. I am reminded here of the famous saying of
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the Father of our Nation Mahatma Gandhi that the ultimate litmus test of any
activity is the ‘Benefit to the poorest of the poor’. We truly believe in this. It is
important to ensure that measures adopted for green development are not
used as trade barriers in any form. Green economy does not necessarily
mean a cap on development. On the contrary, it can be an effective
mechanism for fair distribution of earth’s resources, cooperation between the
developed and developing world, effective and timely fulfilment of
commitments related to finances, capacity building and technology transfer
by developed countries, curbing wasteful consumption, switching to cleaner
technologies and improving efficiency in resource use.
15. In a world which is grappling with issues of climate change and sustainability,
I strongly believe that the traditional Indian ideology of living in harmony with
nature by holding its bounties as sacred and having a deep sense of
gratitude and respect for it needs to be revived. The Indian ethos lays
emphasis on no wastage and judicious use of natural resources, which is an
integral component of sustainable development.
16. The outcome document provides basic focus and mandate to carry this
discussion forward and we hope that in the coming years the BRICS
environmental cooperation will become stronger and more purposeful.
17. I once again thank my counterpart Minister for Russia Federation Mr. Sergey
Donskoy and look forward to interactions with other Ministers from China,
South Africa and Brazil.
Thank you.
*****
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