India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that as the country began its year-long presidency of the Group of 20, the world must cooperate to tackle the greatest challenges of climate change.
Some members of the G20 who wanted more focus on the world’s economic problems were frustrated by the two-day summit’s focus which also focused on the Ukraine conflict, in addition to climate change.
“Today, the greatest challenges we face – climate change, terrorism, and pandemics – can be solved not by fighting each other, but only by acting together,”he said.
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In his declaration on Thursday, Modi stated that India would work to depoliticize the world’s supply of food, fertilizer, and medical supplies in order to prevent global interruptions due to geopolitical unrest.
“As in our own families, those whose needs are the greatest must always be our first concern,” Modi said.
At their summit last month on the island of Bali in Indonesia, G20 members decided to continue their efforts to keep the increase in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius. This includes stepping up their efforts to phase out the continued use of coal.
India, the second-largest coal consumer in the world, declared that it would emphasize a gradual switch to cleaner fuels and a reduction in family consumption in order to attain net zero emissions by 2070 and fulfil its decarbonization commitment.
“Our G20 priorities will be shaped in consultation with not just our G20 partners, but also our fellow travellers in the global South, whose voice often goes unheard,” Modi said. “We will encourage an honest conversation among the most powerful countries – on mitigating risks posed by weapons of mass destruction and enhancing global security.”
Story was adapted from CNN.
