U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the Paris climate summit.
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Modi launched an alliance of some 120-odd nations in Paris on Monday to harness solar energy better, and asked the rich nations to shoulder their responsibilities in protecting the environment. The Prime Minister called on the developed nations to fulfil their responsibility and make renewable and clean energy available to the developing countries in a affordable manner.
In the 2009 Copenhagen conference, it was agreed that poorer nations vulnerable to global warming impacts would receive $100 billion per year by 2020 to give up fossil fuels and shore up defenses against climate-driven food scarcity, heat waves and storm damage.
He noted that over next few days, nations will decide the fate of this planet. Last week, the Indian government-owned IDBI Bank issued 0 million in green bonds that will also help to fund low-carbon energy projects. “There were apprehensions on whether the process of creating Constitutions would be successful”, Modi said. If there is something we turn to when we need guidance and inspiration it is the Constitution.
Modi said convergence between economy, ecology and energy should define the world’s future.
“For that we must come together in a partnership to bring clean energy within the reach of all”.
After Day 1, when leaders from almost 150 nations pledged to work for an ambitious climate deal, negotiators began discussing specific details and iron out differences-a hard task, as developed and developing nations are at odds over a range of issues, including technology transfer and climate finance.
“We want to bring solar energy into our lives and homes, by making it cheaper, more reliable and easier to connect to grid”, he said.
Industry was represented at Monday’s launch ceremony by France’s solar leader Engie, whose CEO Gerard Mestrallet said the energy form was already cost-competitive without subsidies in some regions.
According to the federal U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), about 11% of world marketed energy consumption is from renewable energy sources (biofuels, biomass, geothermal hydropower, solar and wind) with a projection for 15% by 2040.
Earlier, Modi and Obama met as part of “Mission Innovation” which was announced by the U.S. earlier.
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This was the very basis of negotiations between India and the United States ahead of Modi’s meeting with Obama in NY.
