Renewable energy not optional, but a compulsion: Dhankar

Gandhinagar: Terming climate change as an "existential challenge", Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Wednesday that renewable energy is not optional but a compulsion, calling for efforts to make the planet habitable by tackling the ill-effects of climate change.Presiding over the valedictory session of Renewable Energy Investors Meet and Expo (RE-Invest 2024), which was held over the past three days in the state capital, Dhankhar said India's knowledge about climate change emanates from scriptures like the Vedas and Upanishads and the country has taken a lead in the area when the global scenario is marked by disturbance."Interest in RE is not optional, it is compulsion. We will have to take an interest in this because this concerns our existence. And therefore, RE-Invest 2024 has the potential to be a powerful catalyst for action, an action that is the need of the hour," Dhankhar told the gathering.Terming climate change an "existential challenge", Dhankhar said that the entire world has awakened to it as "we are fully alive (to the fact) that we don't have another planet to live".He added, "And therefore there is no option but to work round the clock to bring about a scenario so that we can contain the climate change menace, then engage in its restoration, and then make this planet habitable," he said. Dhankhar said that India, with its civilizational depth of 5,000 years, has taken a lead in the fight against climate change. "Our knowledge about climate change emanates from our Vedas and Upanishads. And therefore, a change was initiated from this land," he added.To tackle climate change, there is a need to create an ecosystem with holistic involvement of all, he commented. "This country has become an epicentre to bring about harmony in the world ... India has given a clarion call ... All agencies in the globe need to converge to tackle and address the menace of climate change. And in this, every individual has a role to play," he said, adding that energy needs to be consumed in a sustainable manner."India is no longer a sleeping giant, a sleeping elephant. It is on the rise. And the rise is incremental and for the benefit of one and all," he said. Dhankhar observed that the development that India is witnessing is "soothing" and it is among the handful of countries with a focus on green hydrogen.The valedictory function of RE-Invest 2024 was attended by state governor Acharya Devvrat, CM Bhupendra Patel and Union ministers Pralhad Joshi and Bhupender Yadav, and others. Gandhinagar: Terming climate change as an "existential challenge", Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Wednesday that renewable energy is not optional but a compulsion, calling for efforts to make the planet habitable by tackling the ill-effects of climate change.Presiding over the valedictory session of Renewable Energy Investors Meet and Expo (RE-Invest 2024), which was held over the past three days in the state capital, Dhankhar said India's knowledge about climate change emanates from scriptures like the Vedas and Upanishads and the country has taken a lead in the area when the global scenario is marked by disturbance."Interest in RE is not optional, it is compulsion. We will have to take an interest in this because this concerns our existence. And therefore, RE-Invest 2024 has the potential to be a powerful catalyst for action, an action that is the need of the hour," Dhankhar told the gathering.Terming climate change an "existential challenge", Dhankhar said that the entire world has awakened to it as "we are fully alive (to the fact) that we don't have another planet to live".He added, "And therefore there is no option but to work round the clock to bring about a scenario so that we can contain the climate change menace, then engage in its restoration, and then make this planet habitable," he said. Dhankhar said that India, with its civilizational depth of 5,000 years, has taken a lead in the fight against climate change. "Our knowledge about climate change emanates from our Vedas and Upanishads. And therefore, a change was initiated from this land," he added.To tackle climate change, there is a need to create an ecosystem with holistic involvement of all, he commented. "This country has become an epicentre to bring about harmony in the world ... India has given a clarion call ... All agencies in the globe need to converge to tackle and address the menace of climate change. And in this, every individual has a role to play," he said, adding that energy needs to be consumed in a sustainable manner."India is no longer a sleeping giant, a sleeping elephant. It is on the rise. And the rise is incremental and for the benefit of one and all," he said. Dhankhar observed that the development that India is witnessing is "soothing" and it is among the handful of countries with a focus on green hydrogen.The valedictory function of RE-Invest 2024 was attended by state governor Acharya Devvrat, CM Bhupendra Patel and Union ministers Pralhad Joshi and Bhupender Yadav, and others.