Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that developing countries are often unfairly held responsible for carbon emissions, despite India's per-capita emissions being less than half the global average and those of developed countries being six times higher.

PM Modi was speaking at the inauguration of the inauguration of the International Conference on 'The Future of Environment and Climate Dynamics' in New Delhi. He stated that often the responsibility for carbon emissions is wrongly placed upon developing countries, whereas the reality has already been that India contributes less than half of the global average.

He said: "We know that often the responsibility for carbon emissions is wrongly placed upon developing countries. My colleagues from the Global South are sitting here. Whereas the historical truth is that India's contribution per capita carbon emission is less than half of the global average. In developed countries, per capita carbon emissions are six times higher than in India. India presents this fact firmly on global platforms."

He stated that these issues have been firmly raised in Paris during the COP-21(Conference of Parties), where India also launched a book, 'Convenient Action and Continuity for Change' authored by the PM. PM Modi proudly announced that India is the only G20 country that has fulfilled all the commitments made at the Paris COP-21 well ahead of time.

Further, he told the audience that consistent efforts are being made domestically to reduce carbon emissions and reliance on fossil fuels.

"Taking the world along, we are setting new benchmarks for environmental protection, be it the idea of 'One Sun, One World, One Grid' or 'International Solar Alliance' or 'Global Bio Fuel Alliance' or International Big Cat Alliance or Mission LifeStyle for Environment. Today, India is moving forward towards weaving its ancient ideas of environmental protection into a modern vision."

PM Modi counted the efforts taken by the government for clean mobility, the energy sector, social energy capacity, curbing carbon emission, nuclear energy generation, and renewable energy, which have made "extraordinary progress" and is truly a subject of positive discussion in the world today.

He said: “Look at the statistic: 12 years ago, India's solar energy capacity was about 2 gigawatts. Today, it has crossed over 160 gigawatts. Under the Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, we started a mission to home the centre of solar power generation. Under this scheme, rooftop solar panels have been installed in over 5 million homes so far. This is more than the total number of homes in many countries of the world. For this, the government has provided financial assistance of up to 80,000 per homes. Under Kusum Yojana, the government has worked to install solar pumps on the farms of 3 million farmers. We have also completed the ambitious 'One Nation, One Grid' project. Not only this, LED bulbs in homes have proven to save electricity. The results of these efforts are before us today, this has prevented 20 crore carbon emissions."

PM Modi has said that India has made a significant increase in Hydro energy capacity, and now the country is working rapidly on nuclear energy generation.

"Those who keep giving long lectures when I push forward the work on nuclear energy, they will stand in courts to stop it. A path has also been created to bring private players into this sector. Due to these efforts, India's non-fossil capacity has increased nearly four times."

He also pointed out that government's attempt to promote coal gasification technologies for cleaner use of coal and use of EV vehicles.

"India is working rapidly in sectors like clean mobility and green hydrogen. Few days ago, India's first green hydrogen train began its journey and this is the world's longest hydrogen train route. This is the beginning of new era of clean mobility. In 12 years, India's electric vehicles have increased by about 950 times. Before 2014, the sale of EVs in India was less than 3,000 whereas last year, 2.5 lac EVs were sold in India. India is embracing the opportunity of EV with full strength. "

Furthermore, he also spoke about how India is now a part of the league of nations that have a metro network of 1,000kms as metro networks in our country are running in more than 20 cities.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India is now guiding the world in many ways on the subject of nature and environment based on its cultural experiences. It is providing solutions to the modern climate challenges while simultaneously calling for collective efforts from the world.

The international conference is a two-day event. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant also spoke at the inauguration of the conference today, which also saw the presence of Bhupender Yadav, Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change; R. Venkataramai, Attorney General for India; and Justice Prakash Shrivastava, Chairperson of the National Green Tribunal. 17 countries are participating in this conference.