According to him, India is dealing with the same environmental problems as the rest of the world
According to Erik Solheim, a former executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), India is particularly vulnerable to climate change due to its dense population.
"You see the effects of climate change everywhere in the world. But of course, India is particularly vulnerable to climate change because it has a heavy population and the kind of nature of India makes it more vulnerable than most other places," Solheim said during the Youth 20 (Y20) talk on climate action.
Y20 is a formal platform for consultation where young people from all G20 members can speak with one another. According to the previous UNEP Executive Director, India is dealing with the same environmental problems as the rest of the world.
According to Erik Solheim, a former executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), India is particularly vulnerable to climate change due to its dense population.
"There is massive pollution, in particular in northern Indian cities like Delhi that are very polluted. India is facing climate change and is vulnerable to climate change. America and India have been facing the loss of nature, the destruction of forests, and wiping out a number of animals," he added.
Solheim said the world has "been much warmer than normal for this time of the year, and that's affecting everyone. But if you take a more global perspective, you also had the huge flooding last year in Pakistan and the huge wildfires in America and Europe. Southern Europe was on fire last summer. China had massive flooding the year before last, and last year they had a drought."
He claimed that China had completely electrified itself and that, in order to save the environment, electric systems must be adopted worldwide.
"China is the world leader in electric cars. It's the world leader in solar and wind energy, and there is no doubt that one out of every four cars sold in China last year was electric. And nearly all buses in the Chinese cities are now electric, which is a major achievement, but others will follow," he said.
He added that many Indian cities are now introducing electric buses. "There are 27 cities in India now introducing metro systems. So you see massive positive developments in India also, and in ten years' time, I think, every new car sold in India will be electric. And you will have charging stations everywhere," he added.