Bhupender Yadav, the Union Environment Minister, emphasizes India's balanced approach to ecological preservation and economic progress.

India has been an innovator as countries try to balance economic development and sustainability, demonstrating that prosperity and environmental responsibility can go together. Speaking to AK Bhattacharya of Business Standard in a session during the BS Manthan conclave on February 27, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav laid out India's vision for tackling climate change, where a strong emphasis is on renewable energy capacity but with an assurance that developing nations get equitable access to technology and finance, setting the bar for climate action policies for the global south.

According to the Environment Minister, India's strategy for combating climate change is based on the ideas of Vikas (development) and Vriddhi (progress). Yadav emphasized that energy access is crucial for every country to provide its population with a respectable standard of living. "You must supply energy to everyone, meet their consumption needs, and build a strong infrastructure if you want to give people a dignified life." Goals for human development can only then be accomplished," he stated.

However, Yadav added that protecting natural resources is equally critical. He added that India has not merely spoken about acting on climate, but has taken concrete steps. India is the sole G20 country that has achieved three of the eight Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) pledged at the Paris Agreement, more than a decade in advance of the timeline. To a query on India's leadership in the climate space in the Global South, the minister said that while developed and developing nations are being hit by climate change, the Global North has been responsible for most emissions in the past.