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India to join UN Climate Change Summit in New York this September 

WION
New DelhiWritten By: Nagen SinghUpdated: Jul 26, 2019, 09:15 PM IST
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Representational Image. Photograph:(Zee News Network)

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The envoy appreciated India's turn to electric vehicles and ensured that the country will join the ambitious climate action in September

UN special envoy for the Climate Summit, Luis de Alba was in India to address climate change and push for the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The envoy appreciated India's turn to electric vehicles and ensured that the country will join the ambitious climate action in September. 

Global emissions are reaching record levels and show no sign of peaking. The last four years have been the hottest on record and India is no different.

While taking a short ride in an Indian e-rickshaw Ambassador De Alba valued the country's approach towards electronic-vehicles to beat air pollution.

“There is a lot to be done by India and other countries to lower greenhouse gas emission. India is still using non- renewable resources for energy production, but its turn towards electric vehicles is a good approach to cut down air pollution. E-rickshaws, electric cars and two-wheelers give some relief from North India’s toxic air,” says Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba, special envoy for Climate Summit, United Nations.

To combat the toxic air pollution across India, the government is making a big push for electric vehicles, signalling a turning point in its clean energy policy. The government initially wanted to move to hundred per cent electric cars, however, it has been diluted to thirty per cent by 2030.

While bad air is not new to India, Delhi has reached the crisis point. According to the World Health Organisation latest report, 9 out of the 10 most polluted cities across the world are from India. The cities included have an average annual particulate matter (pm) 2.5 concentration of 122. 

The Indian cities on the WHO's top 10 list are Gwalior, Allahabad, Patna, Raipur, Ludhiana, Kanpur, Firozabad, Lucknow and the Indian capital Delhi.

India has taken good initiatives in the past and has adhered to Paris Agreement on climate change. The country's turn towards e-vehicles will help reduce carbon emission. 

The UN special envoy believes that countries such as India need to find solutions and align themselves completely to climate change and air pollution policies by 2030. 

The Indian government has now decided to focus on two-wheelers, where sales are much higher. The new proposal is to have only electric three-wheelers operating in the country by 2023, and only electric two-wheelers by 2025.

It is estimated that each year air pollution causes more than 7 million death, and this is one of the reasons that the United Nations has urgently called on every nation for the Climate Change Summit to take urgent action.