Throwaway culture, consumerism, cryptocurrencies big challenges: PM Modi

Talking about India’s commitment to the issue of climate change, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today’s India was formulating its policies by keeping the period of next 25 years in mind, while addressing the world leaders at the World Economic Forum (WEF).

New Delhi: A circular economy that relies on the principle of reuse and recycling can provide answers to the climate challenge posed by the culture of consumerism, throwaway culture and an economic model that is based on make, use and disposal of things, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday.

Addressing a gathering of world leaders and top industrialists at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he also once again warned against the challenges posed by the proliferation of cryptocurrencies as a single nation will not be able to contain the challenges posed by the digital currencies.

Talking about India’s commitment to the issue of climate change, Modi said today’s India was formulating its policies by keeping the period of next 25 years in mind.

“During this period, India has set goals for achieving high growth rate, welfare and wellness. This period of growth will be green, clean, sustainable and reliable,” he said.

Urging the developed countries to bring about a change in their lifestyle to tackle the risks posed by climate change, the Prime Minister said we must admit that our lifestyle is a big challenge for the climate.

“This throwaway culture and consumerism have aggravated the challenge posed by climate change. We need to expeditiously turn today's economy which is based on the model of take, make, use and dispose of, we need to move towards a circular economy,” he told the audience.

Modi said it is imperative to turn Mission Life into a global mass movement. He said we could use the mass movement such as Life as a big base for pro-planet people.

Today, the Prime Minister said, the problems that we face as one global family have been aggravated with the change in the world order and it requires a collective and synchronized action by every country, every global agency.

“These disruptions in supply chain, inflation and climate changes are some of the examples of this phenomenon. There is one more example – that is of cryptocurrency. The kind of technology that is linked with them, no country will be able to tackle the challenges posed by the use of such technology. We need to find a common thinking ground for this,” he said.

Talking about the need to reform the global bodies, the Prime Minister asked whether these multilateral organizations are ready to face the challenge of the new world order, new challenges.

“The situation was completely different when these organizations were established and today the situation is different,” he said.

In his address, the Prime Minister emphasized that it was the responsibility of every democratic nation to stress upon the reform of these world organizations so that they can be made capable of dealing with the present and future challenges.