RIYADH — Indian Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav spoke at the "Middle East Green Initiative Summit", inaugurated Monday in Riyadh by Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, and highlighted the steps taken by India to combat climate change.

In his speech, he stressed the need to consider stage of development, historical responsibility, equity, national circumstances and priorities, and Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capacities (CBDR-RC) to address the challenges of climate change.

While, conveying Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s greetings and best wishes for the ambitious launch of the Middle East Green Initiative and Saudi Green Initiative that will motivate international consensus to deliver on the shared environmental commitments, he said India fully appreciates the climate actions which have been taken by Saudi Arabia.

The minister said that green policies in India are seen in the context of sustainable development and inclusive economic growth including poverty eradication. The government, therefore, endeavors to address all the three dimensions of sustainable development (social, economic and environmental) in a balanced manner.

“India has taken several proactive steps to mainstream the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into policies, schemes and programs. Our sustainable development policies cover many sectors such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable mobility, sustainable habitats and many others,” he said.

India has already enhanced its renewable energy target from 175 GW to 450 GW by 2030. Other important steps are afforestation program; reforming transportation; cleaning up cities and rivers; etc., the minister said.

He concluded by saying, “In addressing the contemporary challenges, it is important to focus on solutions that can help us reach our goals with justice. The need of the hour is a global public partnership to harness technology, innovation and finance to help developing countries in scaling up their efforts to protect nature.”

Earlier, he interacted with the representatives of the Indian community in Riyadh on various community related matters and also spoke about the various labor reforms undertaken by the Indian government. — SG