India's Clean Energy Targets Way Ahead of Others: UN Official

New Delhi: India can lead the world in the area of sustainable energy from renewable sources, as its clean energy target is way ahead of the UN global goal, senior official of the United Nations said today.

"We believe that India can lead the world. Your (India's) targets here and some of the progress you are making here is way ahead of UN global targets. But of course, there is a lot more work to do," United Nations Under Secretary General and CEO for 'SE4ALL' initiative, Kandeh K Yumkella, said.

He was speaking with reporters after a round-table discussion on sustainable energy with Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal in New Delhi.

India targets 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022, which includes 100 GW of solar, 60 GW of wind power, 10 GW of biomass-fired power and 5 GW of small hydro power.

Mr Yumkella, who is also special representative of the UN Secretary General, said, "We used India over the past decade as a laboratory to bring convergence between energy access and climate change recognising still 2.7 billion people around the world rely on charcoal, cow dung and firewood to meet their primary energy needs."

Advertisement

"This, we believe, is unfair and inequitable giving that technologies are known."

The UN's 'SEE4ALL or Sustainable Energy for All' envisages making sustainable energy a reality for all by 2030.

Advertisement

Commenting on the ties with UN on clean energy, Mr Goyal said, "I think this partnership of UN with India will certainly lead India to become world leader in the sphere of clean and affordable energy for all."

"UN's initiative SE4ALL aims that by 2030, entire world and every citizen of the world should have affordable energy access. All countries in the world should feel energy secure (by 2030) while at the same time ensuring that our consciousness to cleaner energy to climate change is also taken care of," the minister said.