india

Updated: Sep 27, 2019 20:40 IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said India’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions leading to large-scale global warming was “low” but the nation was focussed on taking the fight against climate change forward with a slew of initiatives. The prime minister also reiterated India’s pledge to free the country from single-use plastic.

PM Modi was addressing the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The prime minister is on a seven-day visit to the United States to boost bilateral ties between the two largest democracies of the world.

Emphasising the measures the government had taken to contribute to the fight against climate change, the prime minister said, “On the one hand, we are working towards achieving the target of 450 giga watts of renewable energy and on the other, we have also taken the initiative to create the International Solar Alliance.”

“As I walked in, on a wall at the entrance to this building, I saw the call to make the United Nations free of single-use plastic. Even as I speak to you today, a large campaign is being carried out across the entire country to make India free from single-use plastic,” the prime minister said.

At the United Nations General Assembly, PM Modi outlined that the government would ensure tapped water for 15 crore households in the next five years. By 2022, which would coincide with the 75th anniversary of Indian independence, the government was looking at constructing 2 crore houses for the poor and homeless.

PM Modi said one of the immediate effects of rising Global Warming was evidently the increasing number of natural disasters. “To combat natural disasters, India has initiated the formation of the ‘Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure’ (CDRI). This coalition will help build infrastructure which can withstand natural disasters.”

Earlier this week at a UN climate action summit, which had US President Donald Trump in attendance, the prime minister had said, “ “The time for talking is over and the world needs to act now.”