India taking ambitious action for expanding clean, renewable energy, says Shringla

Noting that India is taking ambitious action on expanding clean and renewable energy, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Thursday that the country will work towards mobilization of climate finance and for action to strengthen climate adaptation technology development at COP26 in Glasgow.

Addressing a special briefing on the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Italy and UK for G20 summit and COP26, Shringla said India will also work to achieve completion of Paris agreement implementation guidelines.

He said Prime Minister will deliver a national statement at the World Leader Summit of COP26 on November 1.

He will participate in a leader's event organized by the COP26 presidency around the themes of climate change, mitigation, adaption and building resilience, clean technology innovation.

"At COP26, we'll work to achieve completion of Paris agreement implementation guidelines, mobilization of climate finance, action to strengthen climate adaptation technology development and transfer," he said.

Listing India's achievements to combat climate change, Shringla said India's capacity for renewable energy has increased by 250 per cent in the last six or seven years.

"In India, our own traditional ethos promotes living in harmony with nature. It forms an important part of our comprehensive approach to COP26 despite our huge developmental challenges. We are taking ambitious action on expanding clean and renewable energy, energy efficiency, afforestation and biodiversity," he said.

"Today, India is creating new records in collective efforts for climate adaptation, mitigation and resilience and forging multilateral alliances. We are among the top countries in the world in terms of installed renewable energy, wind and solar energy capacity. We are on course to achieve our target of 450 GigaWatt of renewalbe energy by 2030. There are national schemes such as Roshni, Ujjala, Ujwala, Jal Jeevan mission," he added.

Prime Minister will travel to Glasgow to attend the World Leader's Summit of the 26th Conference of Parties (COP-26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), at the invitation of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The high-level segment of COP-26, titled the World Leaders' Summit (WLS), will be held on November 1 and 2.

( With inputs from ANI )