Narendra Modi calls for African cooperation to combat climate change

New Delhi, Oct 29: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called for cooperation on climate change with Africa while addressing the India-Africa Forum Summit.

Modi said that both Africa and India want to "light up lives of our people and power their future", adding that it should be done in such a manner that "snow on Kilimanjaro does not disappear, the glacier that feeds the River Ganga does not retreat".

"No one can be more conscious of climate change than Indians and Africans," Modi said.

"We are each making enormous efforts with our modest resources to combat climate change. For India, 175 Gigawatts of additional renewable energy capacity by 2022 and reduction in emission intensity by 33-35 percent by 2030 are just two aspects of our efforts," he said.

"But, it is also true that the excess of a few cannot become the burden of many. So, when the world meets in Paris in December, we look to see a comprehensive and concrete outcome that is based on the well established principles in the UN Convention on Climate Change."

Modi said India will do its part for it, but also wants to see "a genuine global public partnership that makes clean energy affordable; provides finance and technology to developing countries to access it; and the means to adapt to the impact of climate change".

He also invited African nations to join an alliance of solar-rich countries that India has proposed to launch in Paris on November 30 at the time of COP-21 meeting.

Our goal is to make solar energy an integral part of our life: Modi

"Our goal is to make solar energy an integral part of our life and reach it to the most unconnected villages and communities."

He also said that India and Africa should also seek a global trading regime that serves our development goals and improves our trade prospects.

"When we meet at Nairobi Ministerial of the WTO in December, we must ensure that the Doha Development Agenda of 2001 is not closed without achieving these fundamental objectives," he said.

"We should also achieve a permanent solution on public stockholding for food security and special safeguard mechanism in agriculture for the developing countries," Modi added.

IANS