NEW DELHI: India avoids nearly 39 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year just by using more than 370 million LED bulbs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday. Addressing online a World Bank event ‘Making it Personal: How Behavioral Change Can Tackle Climate Change’, organised on the impact of behavioural change on climate change, the PM said climate change cannot be fought alone from conference tables.
“When an idea moves from discussion tables to dinner tables, it becomes a mass movement. Making every family and every individual aware that their choices can help the planet can provide scale and speed,” said the PM, elucidating the objectives of an India-led ‘Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment).
Highlighting India’s people-driven efforts on the issue, he said: “India has done a lot on this global issue in the last few years. It was the people who made the switch to LED bulbs a success. Nearly 370 million LED bulbs have been sold. This helps in avoiding nearly 39 million tonnes of Carbon Dioxide emissions every year.”
Giving details of India’s performances on behavioural change on climate change, the PM further said that India’s farmers have ensured the coverage of nearly 7,000 hectares of farmlands by micro-irrigation as part of Mission LiFE. Sharing the expected benefits from Mission LiFE, the PM informed a galaxy of global experts on climate and behavioural changes that India will save over 22 billion units of energy, nine trillion litres of water, reduce waste by 375 million tonnes, recycle almost one million tonnes of e-waste and generate around $170 million dollars of additional cost savings by 2030 with this mission.
“Not only all this, but the Mission LiFE will also help us reduce the wastage of 15 billion tonnes of food”, the PM added, emphasising that global institutions have an important role to play in encouraging countries across the world. “I am told that the World Bank Group is looking to increase climate finance from 26% to 35% as a share of total financing. Adequate financing methods need to be worked out for behavioural initiatives also. A show of support by the World Bank towards behavioural initiatives such as Mission LiFE will have a multiplier effect”, he remarked.
The Mission LiFE was introduced by PM Modi at COP26 on September 1 in 2021 as a mass movement with an aim to nudge individuals and communities to practice a lifestyle that is synchronous with Nature and does not harm it. As part of it, as an official source claimed here, at least 80% of all villages and urban local bodies are to be made environment-friendly by 2028 in India.
According to the UNEP, if 1 out of 8 billion people worldwide adopt environment-friendly behaviour in their daily lives, global carbon emissions could drop up to 20%. In India, the average carbon footprint per person is 1.8 tonnes per year as compared to the global average of 4.5 tonnes.