August 25, 2017,
Mr. Narendra Modi,
Prime Minister of India
Dear Prime Minister Modi,
It is with great optimism and hope that we are following news about the meeting you will have with U.S. President Trump, at this critical time in our planet’s future. 2017 is the year for making decisive commitments towards tackling climate change together. As the elected leader of the world’s largest democracy, and a country with much to lose from run away climate change, the hopes of 1.3 billion Indian citizens rest on you. Along with them, and the millions of people worldwide who will inevitably be affected by decisions made this year, we hope you will successfully push the United States, and the developed world, towards an ambitious and equitable global agreement to rein in climate change.
We congratulate you on setting new and ambitious renewable energy targets, and urge a focus on decentralized renewable energy as the fastest, most cost-effective way to tackle India’s energy poverty challenge. At the same time, we believe that continued growth in coal power is not in the interests of common Indians as it imposes a significantly higher cost on people’s health, livelihood of communities and the environment, and will prove far more expensive than renewable energy. We hope you will secure much-needed support from global partners, civil society and investors – including the United States administration – to realize these renewable energy goals.
Being the member of the Greenpeace, I would like to bring in your kind notice that I found that the number of vehicles has increased considerably in India in the past five years, which is one of the sources of pollution. In the recently released World Health Organization (WHO) report on pollution, the situation of the city is not so encouraging in terms of pollution in the air. Due to increase in number of vehicles over the years, the city roads witness frequent traffic congestions, but above all, the vehicles emitting pollutants are affecting environment badly. The recently-released WHO report shows that India has 2.5 microns of diameter (PM2.5) concentration of 68 micrograms particulate matter per meter cube. However, the WHO guideline values for particulate matter is 10 microgram per meter cube for PM2.5
“The air pollution consists of many pollutants, among other particulate matter. These particles are able to penetrate deeply into the respiratory tract and therefore constitute a risk for health by increasing mortality from respiratory infections and diseases, lung cancer, and selected cardiovascular diseases,” says the WHO report.New patients with respiratory problems are constantly being reported in hospitals. Recently, the many big cities are witnessing a flow of traffic on city roads consisting high end cars too. Moreover, as far as public transport is concerned, the government-owned low floor buses could be seen plying on the road emitting black smoke causing problems for pedestrians, bikers and other roadside vendors. Mr. Avinash Chowdhry senior member of Greenpeace took out a rally of school children at StatueCircle (Mumbai) on the eve of World Environment Day said, “Men’s health is determined by his environment. He is greatest enemy of his own health. Environmental pollution is one of the reasons of cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and diabetes.” Collaboration between the government and civil society is essential to secure a bright future for India and the planet. Greenpeace looks forward to working with the Indian government on our common objective of ensuring clean, affordable renewable energy for all.
Sincerely,
VeenuGopal,
Interim Executive Director, Greenpeace
