Eminent economist Lord Nicholas Stern has appreciated the proposals made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the COP29 Climate Summit, describing them as “ambitious” and “path-breaking”.

“The Panchamrit (five promises) announced by PM Modi are the most substantive set of ideas for reform,” said Nicholas Stern told India Today.

As Chair of the Grantham Research Institute at London School of Economics and a staunch climate advocate, Stern welcomed PM Modi’s pledge as one of the “most important” commitments made at the Glasgow summit and sees a major role to be played by India in combating climate change.

Here are excerpts from Nicholas Stern’s exclusive interview with India Today:

Q: PM Modi’s promises are transformational, but what would you say to the world media that’s been criticising India for reaching net zero too late?

A: I would say to them what I say to you — that those people are lagging behind in their understanding of India and also of the issues.

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This is a transformational time for the Indian economy, for investments, for Indian cities to make them green, a lot of investments for agriculture and electricity supply. This is an exciting moment. I think the BBC has catching up to do.

Q: In spite of the praise coming in for India, finance has still been stuck. Not much money has been put on the table still by the developed world. So is COP26 headed for a stalemate?

A: After Paris, what we have done in these years since Paris and build up to Glasgow, we have brought it closer to 2 degrees. I know it’s not enough but it is significant advance.

WHAT ARE PM MODI’S 5 PROMISES MADE AT COP26?

At the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow earlier this month, PM Modi said India will achieve net-zero emissions by 2070. This was one of the five major commitments or “panchamrit” he made on behalf of India, to mitigate climate change. The rest are as follows:

• India will bring its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030
• India will bring its economy’s carbon intensity down to 45 per cent by 2030
• India will fulfil 50 per cent of its energy requirement through renewable energy by 2030
• India will reduce 1 billion tonnes of carbon emissions from the total projected emissions by 2030

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