At a time when India’s “right to grow” pitch caused concern among environmentalists sceptical about New Delhi’s commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “zero defect and zero effect” remark on Friday came as a clear message that the country would not compromise on its goal of environmental protection.
Asking small and big industrialists and youth not to compromise on quality of products and environment, Modi said, “Don’t compromise on two points - first zero defect and second zero effect”.
“Let’s think about making our product which has ‘zero defect’ so that it does not come back (get rejected) from the world market and ‘zero effect’ so that the manufacturing does not have an adverse effect on our environment”, said the Prime Minister while delivering his maiden Independence Day speech.
Whle exhorting industry to make India the manufacturing hub of the world, Modi said, “I am confident that we would achieve our goals if we carry our dream of manufacturing sector with zero defect and zero effect”.
His categorical remark gives a clear message that the country will move on its low-carbon and sustainable growth trajectory while adopting clean technology and renewable energy in a big way.
It also assumes significance ahead of the New York climate summit which is being organized by the United Nations (UN) on September 23 to give a political momentum to the climate change negotiations before coming out with a global climate deal in Paris next year.
Reacting to Modi’s remark, UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) chief, R K Pachauri said, “It has been quite clear right from the beginning that the Prime Minister is very much concerned about climate change. The remark shows his commitment to achieve the twin goals of development and environmental protection. Even his remark and overemphasis on cleanliness has direct bearing on environment”.
Asked how the country would go for this amid varied challenges on different fronts, Pachauri told the TOI that India would do this by making it a “people’s movement”. He said, “Government alone cannot do this. It should be a people’s movement. We have to tell the people that both development and environment protection can go together if we adopt the right approach”.
Giving an example of air pollution and its effect on human health, the IPCC chairman said, “People would surely understand it if we tell them about the co-benefits of various measures to protect environment”.
