India first among G-20 nations to meet Paris Agreement goals, says PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India was the first country among G-20 nations to meet the goals of Paris Agreement.
The Paris Agreement is a landmark international treaty on climate change, adopted in 2015, which is aimed at limiting global warming and strengthening the global response to the climate crisis. The goals of the treaty include keeping the global average temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The treaty also aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions.
Besides India, G-20 countries include the UK, the US, Russia, France, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey.
In his virtual address from France at the opening ceremony of India Energy Week 2025, the Prime Minister said, “In the last 10 years, India has become the fifth largest economy from the 10th largest. In the last 10 years, we have increased our solar energy generation capacity 32 times.”
“India is the third largest solar-power generating nation in the world. Our non-fossil fuel energy capacity has increased three times. India is the first country among G-20 nations to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement,” he added.
The Prime Minister said India is achieving its targets of Paris Agreement ahead of time due to ethanol blending which has lead to a significant decrease in CO2 emissions in the country.
“Today India is doing 19 per cent ethanol blending. This has saved foreign exchange and generated substantial farmer revenue. Along with this, there has also been a significant cut in CO2 emissions. We are on the path to achieve 20 per cent ethanol mandate even before October 2025,” the Prime Minister said.
He also said that India’s biofuel industry is set to grow rapidly due to the country being a member of Global Biofuels Alliance which was formed during India’s G20 Presidency.
“We have a sustainable feedstock of 500 million metric tonnes. During India's G20 presidency, the Global Biofuels Alliance was formed and is continuously expanding. Twenty-eight nations and 12 international organisations have joined it. It is transforming waste into wealth and setting up Centres of Excellence,” he said.
Modi said India’s energy goals are aligned as per 2030 deadline and the country will “cross many big milestones” in the coming five years.
“We want to add 500 gigawatt renewable energy capacity by the year 2030. The Indian Railways has set a target of net zero carbon emission by the year 2030. Our goal is to produce five million metric tonnes of Green Hydrogen every year by the year 2030,” he said.
“These targets of ours may seem quite ambitious, but what India has achieved in the last 10 years has created confidence that we will definitely achieve these targets,” the Prime Minister said.
He said in the gas sector, India was the fourth largest refining hub. “We are engaged in increasing our capacity by 20 per cent,” he said.
PM Modi said India had a big focus on the solar energy sector as solar PV module manufacturing capacity of the country had expanded in the last 10 years. “This capacity has increased from 2 gigawatts to about 70 gigawatts. This sector has become more attractive due to the PLI scheme,” he said.
