UN Ocean conference takes off, Dr Singh leading Indian delegation

The 5-day UN Ocean Conference took off in Lisbon,Portugal on Monday with the Governments of Kenya and Portugal being the co-hosts. Leaders from over 130 countries from across the world will deliberate for five days to find an international agreement on protecting the world’s oceans, seas and marine resources. Union Minister for Science & Technology Dr Jitendra Singh is leading the Indian delegation. The Ocean Conference comes at a crucial juncture as the world is seeking to address many of the challenges requiring structural transformations and Innovative and Green solutions to achieve the SDG Goal 14, which calls for Conservation and Sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources. The UN had underlined on several occasions that the oceans on the planet are facing severe threats as a result of human activities and will likely to become worse as the world population grows and human activities increase.

Speaking to media, Dr Jitendra Singh outlined that India has already taken a big lead in Green Technology and as per Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2030 goal is to reduce India’s emissions by 45 percent by adding 500 gigawatts of renewable energy generators to the country’s power kitty, thereby reducing almost one billion tonne of our CO2 emissions. The Minister also pointed out that India recently undertook a nationwide awareness campaign to clean plastic and other waste from coastal areas and this mission will soon become a Jan Andolan. Dr Singh said India has taken up several initiatives, programmes and policy interventions to protect the marine and coastal ecosystems, mangroves and coral reefs.