India being lectured, pressured on environmental issues by developed countries: PM
NEW DELHI: India is the only country that is on course to achieve the Paris Agreement goals ahead of time and yet, it is being "lectured" on environmental issues and subjected to numerous pressures by developed nations, which still harbour a colonial mentality, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday.
This is the first time that the prime minister has spoken on the issue since the United Nations' COP26 summit concluded on November 13.
Addressing a Constitution Day event organised by the Supreme Court, Modi said a colonial mindset still exists and these forces are putting obstacles in the path of growth of the developing nations.
He said the latest example of this mentality was seen at the recently concluded international climate conference, COP 26, in Glasgow, where the issue of environment was being "hijacked" by the developed nations.
"We can see these days that attempts are being made to hijack the issue of environment. A few weeks ago, at the COP26 summit, we saw a live example of this. If we talk about the absolute cumulative emissions, since 1850, the developed nations have collectively caused 15 times more emissions than India."
"If we talk about the per capita basis, developed nations have caused 15 per cent more emissions than India. Absolute cumulative emissions of the United States and the European Union together are 11 times more than that of India. Still, India is lectured on environmental conservation," the prime minister said.
He said India has lived with nature embedded in its tradition, where god is seen even in plants, where the land is worshipped as the mother, adding that these values are not just confined to books.
Modi also highlighted that the country's biodiversity is constantly improving with the population of lions, tigers and dolphins increasing.
"Today, there is a continuous improvement in the biodiversity of India. The numbers of lions, tigers and dolphins are rising, the forest cover is increasing, land degradation is reducing," he said.
The Constitution is the greatest strength to remove the obstacles being created by the colonial mindset, Modi added.