PM Narendra Modi receives CERAWeek Global Energy and Environment Leadership Award

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi received the CERAWeek Global Energy and Environment Leadership Award on Friday (March 3) evening. The event was virtual, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Prime Minister delivered a keynote address at the Cambridge Energy Research Associates Week (CERAWeek) 2021 via video conferencing.

Founded in 1983 by Dr Daniel Yergin, the CERAWeek has been organized in Houston in March every year since 1983 and is considered the world's premier annual energy platform.

“It is with great humility that I accept the CERAWeek Global Energy & Environment Leadership Award. I dedicate this award to people of our great motherland India. I dedicate this award to glorious tradition of our land that has shown the way when it comes to caring for the environment,” Prime Minister said while receiving the award.

The PM also took this opportunity to remember Mahatma Gandhi, who one of the greatest environmentalists to ever live. “In Mahatma Gandhi, we have one of the greatest environment champions to have ever lived. If humanity had followed the path given by him, we would not face many of the problems we do today,” he said. 

“Climate change and calamities are major challenges today. There are 2 ways to fight them. One is via policies, laws, rules & orders. These have their own importance. But there is something beyond these words. The most powerful way to fight climate change is behavioural change,” he added. 

The Prime Minister also took this opportunity to mark India as one of the driving forces for this shift to organic wellness. “Today the world is focussing on fitness and wellness. There is a growing demand for healthy and organic food. India can drive this global change through our spices, our Ayurveda products and more,” he said. 

CERAWeek Global Energy and Environment Leadership Award was instituted in 2016. It recognizes the commitment of leadership towards the future of global energy and environment, and for offering solutions and policies for energy access, affordability and environmental stewardship, the PMO noted.

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