Act now

“In the case of climate change we don’t have the luxury of time. If we need to take any actions, we have to take it as early as possible,” says Dr Rajendra K. Pachauri, Director General, TERI India and Chairman IPCC
 In an exclusive interview, internationally acclaimed environmentalist Dr Rajendra K. Pachauri speaks with Subhajit Roy and discusses why Modi’s Gujarat model of optimising renewable energy will work for India. He also urges early actions to tackle with the climate change-related issues.
How do you look at the present government’s initiative towards promoting renewable energy?We have to see what is going to happen. What I know is that when the Prime Minister was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, he did more for the renewable energy than any other chief minister in the country. He has not only shown us the vision but also the determination for implementation. As we know in Gujarat, the canals have been covered with photovoltaic panels. That has huge benefits — there is no need of land, and it cuts down on evaporation. With the lower temperatures of photovoltaic panels, the performance also improves. Besides, people living by the canals can get electricity supply. All I would say is when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, he did a remarkable job of promoting renewable energy. I am sure this will be the case now as he is the prime minister.

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