PM Modi dedicates UN’s Champions of Earth award to ‘invisible’ conservation heroes

Climate and calamity are directly linked to culture, and it will be difficult to avoid calamity as long as concerns for the climate do not become part of the local culture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday after he was conferred the United Nations’ Champions of the Earth’ award.

Modi dedicated the award to the “invisible faces of India who contribute to conservation of nature.”

He said the honour belonged to tribal forest dwellers who play an important role in forest conservation, fishermen who abstain from fishing during the breeding season, and farmers who are dependent on the seasonal weather cycle for their livelihood.

The Indian prime minister has been recognised for his work in championing the International Solar Alliance, a global coalition of countries committed to harnessing solar energy, “and promoting new areas of levels of cooperation on environmental action”.

He shares the award with President Emmanuel Macron of France.

Modi, who was also recognised for his extensive efforts to beat ‘plastic pollution’ — including an ambitious pledge to eliminate all single-use plastic in the country by 2022 — said environmental conservation was part of India’s value system.

“Climate and calamity are directly related to culture. If climate protection is not part of culture, it’s difficult to prevent climate-induced calamities. In India we wake up and ask Mother Earth to forgive us because we are putting our weight on her. Conservation and nature are a part of our festivals and folklore,” Modi said.

Climate change caused by global warming, a phenomenon resulting from the burning of fossil fuels that produces heat-trapping greenhouse gases, has been cited by scientists as a contributing factor in many extreme weather events, including the August flooding in Kerala that left more than 400 people dead and a trail of devastation across the southern state.

Considered the highest environmental honour by the UN, the ‘Champions of the Earth’ award was announced at the UN General Assembly held in New York last week.

It was presented by UN secretary general Antonio Guterres to the PM at a ceremony in New Delhi. “Climate change poses an existential threat to the planet. Many leaders know and recognise this threat, but the difference with Modi is that he acts on it with enormous energy.

He understands the enormous benefits of climate action,” Guterres said at the presentation ceremony.

“We also recognise his (Modi’s) contribution in creating a coalition of 121 countries dedicated to harnessing solar energy,” Guterres added.

Erik Solheim, head of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) who attended the award ceremony said: “The most important missing raw material today is political leadership and political vision. I admire you (Modi) because you are providing it to India and the world. Environment runs deeper in the veins of Indians.”

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said some developed nations wanted to quit the Paris agreement on climate change, but India had come forward to ratify it.

“PM Modi had said we are not ratifying the agreement under pressure from any country but with conviction in our own history and culture,” said Swaraj.