NEW DELHI: The Congress Party has lashed out at the Centre, claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s words regarding climate change at the G20 Summit and other international conferences were a “sheer hypocrisy” and that the “global talk” is entirely at odds with the “local walk.” In a formal declaration, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh charged that the Modi administration had completely dismantled India’s environmental safeguards and had taken away the rights of the most vulnerable communities that depended on the woods. “The Prime Minister’s remarks at the G20 and other international conferences are complete hypocrisy. He talks about the environment, tackling climate change, and promoting equity while removing safeguards for India’s forests and biodiversity, weakening the rights of Adivasis and communities that live in woods, and more.The ‘Global Talk’ and the ‘Local Walk’ are in total conflict with one another,’ Jairam Ramesh stated. The Congress MP attacked PM Modi harshly, claiming that he made ‘big and empty’ claims about the value of the environment at the G20 Summit. “”The climate has not changed, we have changed,” the Prime Minister declared in a 2014 Doordarshan interview with students. The hypocrisy of the so-called Vishwaguru has advanced considerably. The G20 Summit has been utilised by the prime minister to make grand, meaningless declarations about the value of the environment. He stated, “We have consistently been at the forefront of taking action on biodiversity conservation, protection, restoration, and enrichment,” during the G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Meet. Aside from that, he (Modi) added that “climate action must follow antyodaya… we must ensure the rise and development of the last person in society.” The Modi government is, in fact, completely undermining India’s environmental regulations and stealing the rights of the most defenceless communities that depend on forests, the Congress leader continued. On Saturday, the G20 countries pledged to increase the amount of renewable energy produced globally by 2030 and to speed up efforts to phase out coal power in accordance with national conditions, but they made no commitments to completely phase out all fossil fuels, including oil and gas, that are harmful to the environment. Contrary to the Prime Minister’s assertions that biodiversity is being conserved, the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Act of 2023 significantly weakens the original 2002 statute. The 2023 Act eliminates all provisions for criminal offences, allowing individuals who harm biodiversity and practise biopiracy to get away with it. The Environment Ministry now has entire control over the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), which was previously an independent entity with the authority to serve as a check and balance. Additionally, Jairam Ramesh attacked the 2023 Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act. “Furthermore, the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act of 2023 exposes the assertions that equity is emphasised as being entirely false. It does away with procedures for local community approval of forest clearing in large regions. This was the subject of concerns from the National Commission on Scheduled Tribes in 2022,” the Congress MP added. He added that the Act “is only paving the way for the Modi government to exploit forests and hand them over to a few select crony capitalist friends”. “Tribal communities in the Northeast are especially at risk because this Act will revoke safeguards for forests that are less than 100 kilometres from the country’s borders. Despite being governed by the NDA, Nagaland is shortly anticipated to follow Mizoram’s lead and approve a resolution rejecting the Act in the Assembly.The new law violates the 1996 TN Godavarman Supreme Court ruling by removing protections for up to 25% of India’s forest cover. The statement from the Congress MP continued, “It is merely setting the path for the Modi government to plunder forests and pass them over to a limited group of crony capitalist buddies.
