Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar: Namaskar, good evening and thank you for coming to this special press briefing at very short notice.
This briefing is to give you a background on the Champions of the Earth Award which, as you are aware, have been conferred to our Prime Minister jointly with the President of France. The award would be handed over by the UN Secretary General on October 3 at
a function which will take place at the Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra.
To give you more background and more details about the ceremony and also about the award I have with me Shri C K Mishra, Secretary (Environment, Forest and Climate Change). I have Secretary (ER) in the Ministry of External Affairs Shri T S Tirumurti and Shri
Manish Chauhan who is Jt. Secretary (UNES) in the Ministry of External Affairs. So without any further ado I request Secretary (ER) to start the briefing.
Secretary (ER), Shri T S Tirumurti: Good evening to all of you and thank you all for being here. I also thank Secretary (Environment, Forest and Climate Change) for being with us. Today’s briefing is to give you a background
on the Champions of the Earth Award which has been conferred on the Hon’ble Prime Minister by the United Nations.
The United Nations announced on 26th September during the high level segment of the United Nations General Assembly that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi along with the French President Mr. Emmanuelle Macron have been conferred the Champions of the Earth award
in the policy leadership category.
This is the United Nation’s highest environmental honor. The award recognizes the Prime Minister for his bold environmental leadership on the global stage for his pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and for promoting new areas of
levels of cooperation on environmental acts including Prime Minister’s unprecedented pledge to eliminate all single use plastics in India by 2022.
The award is also a global recognition of the work done by India particularly in the realm of solar power and renewable energy. As you are aware that the first general assembly of the International Solar Alliance, the 2nd Ayura renewable energy ministerial
meeting and the second Re-invest 2018 is being inaugurated tomorrow evening by Prime Minister in the presence of the United Nations Secretary General Mr. Antonio Guterres.
Hon’ble Minister of State, Independent Charge, for New and Renewable Energy Shri R K Singh has already done a very detailed press briefing on this particular subject on 25th September.
Friends, launched in 2005 the Champions of the Earth award is UN’s highest environmental honor and every year UN recognizes persons whose actions have made a very positive impact on the environment. Previous Laurits in different categories include Heads of
State, scientists, civil activists, entrepreneurs etc. It is awarded annually in five different categories. This year Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and President Macron have been awarded the prize in the policy, leadership category.
Early recipients of the award in the policy, leadership category include former Prime Minister of Chile Michelle Bachelet in 2017, Rwandan President Paul Kagame in 2016, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh in 2015, President of Palau and former President
of Indonesia in 2014, President of Mongolia in 2012, President of Mexico in 2011, President of Maldives in 2010 and the then Minister of Environment of Norway and the current Executive Director of UNEP Mr. Erik Solheim in 2009. I would now like to request
Secretary (Environment, Forests and Climate Change) to give you more details.
Secretary (Environment, Forests and Climate Change), Shri C K Mishra: Thank you Mr. Tirumurti for that brief description and thank you all for being here. I you just heard is a rare honor for India because this is the first
time India is getting an award in the policy leadership field and Prime Minister Modi will be the first recipient for this in India. Earlier India has got two awards that was for innovation and the second one for the plastic work of Mr. Afroz Shah but his
is a kind of the highest award that the UN confers in terms of environment.
This will be handed over to the Prime Minister on the morning of 3rd October by the Secretary General and the Executive Director of the UNEP will also be present on that occasion. Largely this is a recognition of India’s leadership and that we have shown in
the environmental field in the recent years. As it was mentioned it is about commitment to plastic pollution, it is renewable energy, it is about how we have tackled the cooking gas problem or the LED bulb problem. They have several other things also. Basically
it is not one thing or the other, it is cumulatively the commitment of the country towards sustainable development that this award has been conferred on the Prime Minister.
This award was announced on the 26th September in New York as you heard and since the Prime Minister was not able to be there this award is being conferred to him here. There is another award that India has got that I will inform you, Kochi International Airport
has got an award for being all solar airport.
India has steadily been moving in this direction and we need not get into too many things but I’ll just mention a few things which have led to the globe believing that India has taken leadership in this. Apart from the International Solar Alliance, India’s
domestic schemes like Ujjwala which has cut down drastically on dependence on forest fuel and forest wood. Then renewable energy, we are among the few countries where there is a great need of providing power to those who still don’t have power but as a responsible
nation its been a commitment of the Prime Minister that we will power to everyone but through renewable energy and the commitment is that by 2022, 175 GW of renewable energy will be produced in India. Solar Alliance is different but solar power which is going
to be 100 GW by 2022 is a major part of it.
You are all aware the way India has launched Save Power campaign through the LED. Plastic is a major menace and the world over people are trying to find new ways and means. India has made a recent commitment on 5th June this year when we had the World Environment
Day and India had the honor of hosting it. When the Prime Minister made a commitment that by 2020 we will try and stop the use of single use plastic. Single use plastic is the variety which is mostly littered because it can’t be recycled or reused. So the
basic mantra that was given that day was refuse, reuse, recycle plastic and India has launched this campaign in a big way and in several parts of the country, state governments have come up with new rules, new laws and we are trying to see that single use
plastic is at least eliminated by 2022.
Similarly, on other lines of pollution, for example, I will give you one example, leapfrog from BSIV fuel to BSVI which is much cleaner and we are among the rare countries which did this without going through BSV phase. So these are all efforts and these show,
for example, despite the population pressure in India we are a rare country where according to 2017 calculations and the survey that was done, the forest cover has increased by 1 percent which is close to 8000 sq. km of forest and tree cover.
So there are many of these things which have been put together. India has also been acknowledged for the leadership we have taken up in the climate change negotiations. Prime Minister’s basic call of Climate Justice is something that has been recognized globally
because this was a call which came for the first time from the Head of a State who urged all nations to respect climate justice. So these, in a nutshell, are some of the things based on which this award has been conferred and it is an honor for India to have
the Prime Minister to receive it. Thank you.
Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar: Thank you sir. If there are any questions please proceed.
Question: Just one clarification, you said that forest cover has increased by 1 percent, what is the time frame that you are referring to, and what is the visible or perceptible impact of the Trump administration’s approach
to the climate change issue that is felt by India, I mean Sushma Swaraj raised it at the UNGA but the fact that they have pulled out of the Climate Change Agreement, could you take us through what are some of the visible impacts of that or the adverse impacts
that you fear going ahead?
Secretary (Environment, Forests and Climate Change), Shri C K Mishra: The forest cover has increased between 2014-16, that is the period and the survey happened in 2017. When we say forest cover we mean both the tree cover
inside the forest and outside the forest, so it is close to 8000 sq. km that is increased.
Second, on the impact of the US, let me first clarify that in all our negotiations that we are having today or we are going to have tomorrow, US is a part of the negotiation, they are still with us in the negotiations. There has been a talk of some reopening
of some of the clauses of Paris Agreement which India is not in favor and which has been largely accepted. So as of now if the US is with us it strengthens the climate change negotiations but I don’t think we are having an adverse impact as far as negotiations
are concerned.
Question: You mentioned that the Kochi Airport has got an award. Can you just describe the name of the award?
Secretary (Environment, Forests and Climate Change), Shri C K Mishra: That is an award in the category of entrepreneurial vision.
Question: Aapne ek category ka jikra kiya jismein Pradhanmantri Modi ko ye award milna hai aur khastaur par aapne tamaam flagship yojanaon ki bhi baat ki chaahe Ujjwala ki baat ho ya Solar Alliance ki baat ho. Main jaanana
chaahunga agar inke implementation ki agar baat karein to kitna implementation ki taraf hum badh paayein hain aur kahan tak hamari stithi hais ismein?
(You have mentioned about a category in which Prime Minister will be conferred this award and you also talked about flagship programs whether it is Ujjwala or the Solar Alliance. I would like to know what the current status of implementation of these schemes
is.)
Secretary (Environment, Forests and Climate Change), Shri C K Mishra: Dekhiye jitni bhi yojanaon ka maine jikra kiya, usmein saari yojanon mein jo samay seema nirdharit kii gaii thii shuru mein usii ke anusar hum badh rahe
hain. Ek ek kar ke hum agar lein to, Ujjwala yojana ke figures aap jaanate hain, LED bulb ke daamon mein 78 percent ki kami aaii hai, ye bhi aapko jaankaari hai, fir jahan tak solar alliance ki baat hai, Solar alliance mein pahli baar aisa hua ki humne utne
deshon ka samarthan ismein paya jitna aavashayak thaa is alliance ko chalaane ke liye. Abhi aapke yahan kal un deshon ki assembly hone waali hai, commitments jo aayein hain, dono, financial aur physical, poore vishwa se aa gaye hain, isliye ismein pragati
hui hai.
Jahan tak Bharat ki pragati ka prashn hai main aapko bataaoon ki renewable kshetra mein 70 GW se adhik ke lakshya ki praapti hum kar chuke hain aur iska jo overall impact hota hai wo samajhana chaahiye kyonki dekhiye humne ek global commitment kiya thaa.
(See, as far as all the schemes that I have mentioned we are proceeding according the schedule which was decided during the launch of these schemes. If we take them one by one, you know the figures of Ujjwala scheme. There is a decrease of 78 percent in the
price of LED bulbs which you are also aware of and as far as solar alliance is concerned, we have garnered the support of requisite number of nations which was mandatory for this alliance. Tomorrow we are having the general assembly of the alliance here and
the commitments, both financial and physical, have been confirmed by the whole world, so there is a lot of progress in this.
As far as the progress of India is concerned let me tell you that we have already reached 70 GW of renewable energy target and we must try to understand its overall impact because we made a global commitment that by 2020 we will reduce the emission intensity
of our GDP by 20 percent and it is by 2030 we will do it between 30-35 percent. We have already done more than 12 percent, so we are absolutely on course. And when you say that you are reducing emission intensity, these all things contribute in that. )
Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar: Since there are no more questions this briefing comes to a close. Thank you gentlemen for coming to this briefing and thank you all for joining.
New Delhi
October 02, 2018