India a leader in climate change efforts: Javadekar

New Delhi, Feb 3:

Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar Tuesday said India’s commitment and the corresponding efforts in pursuing clean and renewable energy path demonstrated the country’s leadership in combating climate change.

Speaking at the conference “Negotiating the Climate Cliff: India’s Climate Policy and Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)”, he said: “In India’s case, INDCS are not just intended, as we have already started implementing some of the actions that will form the core of India’s contributions.”

Projecting India’s solar energy programme as one of its INDCs, Javadekar said: “We have already started walking the talk. Let others do it now.”

Ahead of Paris Climate Conference 2015, where global partners would discuss a crucial climate change agreement for the period post 2020 when the exiting Kyoto protocol would end, all countries are required to prepare their INDCs to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Other initiatives on wind energy deployment, water conservation, and protecting coastlines and Himalayan Ecosystem, reflected the government’s commitment towards environment protection and sustainable development, said Javadekar, according to an official statement.

The conference, organised by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), focused on the road to the Paris climate negotiations scheduled for later this year. IANS