Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday addressed the 14th session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification held in Greater Noida , attended by over 7,200 delegates, and said that his government has launched a programme to double the income of farmers in the coming years.

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

Addressing the conference, PM Modi said that this would be achieved by increasing crop yield through various measures such as land restoration and micro-irrigation.

Stressing on the changing climate and the threats it imposes to both biodiversity and land, PM Modi pointed out that the climate change is also leading to land degradation of various kinds, be it due to rise in sea levels and wave action, erratic rainfall and storms, or sand storms caused by hot temperatures.

Saying that India has now hosted all three UN conventions, PM Modi suggested that India would be happy to propose initiatives for greater cooperation in addressing the issues of climate change, biodiversity and land degradation in the future.

During the conference, he also spoke about the acute water scarcity facing the earth and called it a "global threat", enumerating the initiatives taken by India to "augment water supply", "enhance water recharge" and prevent water run-off. PM Modi also called for the leadership of UNCCD to create a global water action agenda which is central to the land degradation neutrality strategy. The PM informed the attendees of the central government's decision to launch a first-of-its-kind 'Jal Shakti' Ministry, which is solely dedicated to addressing every water-related issue prevailing in the country.

Reiterating the Modi government's ambition to eliminate single-use plastic in the country in the coming years, PM Modi urged the world to come together and get rid of single-use plastic globally.