Efforts are being made to make Ladakh carbon neutral, Prime Minister Modi said in his Independence Day speech
New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today that efforts are underway to make the Union Territory of Ladakh a carbon neutral region.
Being “carbon neutral” means having a balance between the emission of carbon and its absorption from the atmosphere into carbon sinks. It is important because greenhouse gas or carbon emissions harm the climate.
“Just as Sikkim has made its mark as an organic state, efforts are being made to make Ladakh a carbon neutral region,” said Modi, addressing the country from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the occasion. of the 74th Independence Day.
In 2003, Sikkim became the first state to announce the adoption of organic farming, which has also helped reduce its carbon footprint.
Sikkim has stopped importing chemical fertilizers and since then the cultivable land there is practically organic and the state’s farmers are traditional users of organic manure, an environment ministry official said.
In 2018, Sikkim won the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Future Policy Award for the best policies to promote agroecological and sustainable food systems.
In Ladakh, several wind and solar energy projects are underway. Among these, an upcoming 7,500 megawatt (MW) solar power plant will significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the Union territory and contribute to carbon neutrality.
“Ladakh has great potential for solar energy. In five years, a 7,500 MW solar power plant will be installed there, which will significantly reduce the carbon footprint, ”said Jigmet Takpa, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of the Environment.
Ladakh produces 0.1% of India’s total carbon emissions, another senior environment ministry official said.
“Making Ladakh carbon neutral is a development vision. It aims to carry out development activities in the territory while minimizing carbon emissions.
“Ladakh’s emissions are very low at 0.1 percent of India’s emissions due to the less development in the region. The government plans to invest in solar and wind power and this will be announced shortly,” said the officer.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
