Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar inaugurated the conference and said that good outcomes are expected out of the COP14, given the massive scale of participation. The minister had earlier said that India will restore 50 lakh hectare of its degraded land by 2030 and also announced the plan to set up a center of excellence at the Forest Research Institute in Dehradun in order to combat the desertification of fertile land. India took over the presidency of the COP from China, where countries agreed on a 12-year strategy to contain runaway land degradation during the last COP in 2017.
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Prime Minister stressed on the need for teamwork and cited the success of the Swachh Bharat Mission.
PM Modi said that his government has launched a program to double the income of farmers by increasing crop yield through various measures, including land restoration and micro-irrigation. He added that we are also focusing on zero budget natural farming.
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PM Modi said that his government has announced to put an end to single-use plastic in the coming years. He also added that the government has created a "Jal Shakti Ministry" to address all water-related important issues in totality.
The Prime Minister said that climate and environment impact both biodiversity and land, and the world is facing the negative impact of climate change.
PM Modi emphasised that India aims to increase the total area restored from land degradation to increase from 21 million hectares to 26 million hectares. He also added that India's tree cover has increased by 0.8 million hectares between 2015 and 2017.
PM Modi is addressing the gathering now.
Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves addressed the gathering and said desertification has been identified as the greatest environmental challenge of our time and climate change is making it worse.
United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Jane Mohammed spoke about the steps that can be taken to combat climate change. She said we need to make small steps in order to achieve our bigger climate goals,
Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves is also present at the event in Greater Noida.
Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar spoke about the agenda to combat desertification. PM Modi is also present at the venue.