UN Secretary General António Guterres today called on the Indian government to move away from coal and other fossil fuel-based economic growth and fully embrace renewable energy (RE). Guterres’s remarks were a part of his Darbari Seth Memorial Lecture speech, delivered online at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). He cautioned that new coal auctions, in a bid to kick-start a post-covid economic recovery, would be counterproductive, since coal has no future economic viability. It would rather lead to greater pollution, add to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and place a burden on India’s healthcare system. Guterres praised India’s achievements in RE investments and the country’s 2030 target of increasing its share of RE capacity to 500 gigawatts.
