Prime Minister Narendra Modi remotely inaugurated the Gandhi Solar Park installed with 193 solar panels, each representing a member of the multilateral body, at the UN Headquarters to commemorate 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and mark India’s global leadership in renewable energy.
“Whether it is climate change or terrorism or selfishness in public life, Gandhiji’s ideals are the guiding light for us when it comes to protecting humanity. I believe the path shown by Gandhiji will lead to a better world,” said PM Modi.
India hosted an event called ‘Leadership Matters: Relevance of Gandhi in the Contemporary World’ in the UN Headquarters, which was addressed by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, South Korea President Moon Jae-in, Singapore Prime Minister M Lee Hsien Loong, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
The 50 kilowatt hour (kWh) roof-top solar park was built at a cost of US $1 million. With each panel powered to reach the max of 50 KWn of generation power, the park’s annual output will be 86,244 KWh. This equals 61 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide, 30,242 kg of coal burned and carbon sequestered from 1,008 tree seedlings grown for 10 years.
India has pledged a 33-35% reduction in emission intensity (emissions associated with each unit of economic output) by 2030, compared to 2005 levels, as part of its commitments to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted by 195 countries in Paris in 2015.
A special UN postage stamp on Gandhi@150 years was released and the Gandhi Peace Garden, which is a crowd-funded project to plant 150 trees adopted by people in the memory of their loved ones at the State University of New York-Old Westbury campus, was in the memory of Mahatma Gandhi.
