Global South not responsible for global environmental damage: Piyush Goyal

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal Monday said that the Global South is not responsible for global environmental damage but it was caused by the developed countries who enjoyed the fruits of low cost energy.

Emphasizing promoting sustainable consumption patterns to cut carbon footprint and resolve issues of environment, he said that people of the world would have to focus on consuming products which are environmentally sustainable.

“The damage to the environment was not caused by the global south or by the less developed or developing countries, but more by the developed countries, which enjoyed the fruits of low cost energy to develop their economies into large per capita economies,” he said at the CII Partnership Summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in collaboration with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).


“This shared future and responsibility towards sustainability, better supply chains, stable policies, will all have to be done with the recognition of a common but differentiated responsibility…Everybody will have to be given a responsibility based on their contribution to the problem in the very first place,” Goyal said, adding that countries present at the summit were not responsible for the damage to the environment.

Sixty-one countries, 30 global speakers and 11 overseas ministers are participating at the summit.

He added that environmental challenges are not a function of the carbon emitted through manufacturing, but “it is a greater function of the carbon caused by (our) consumption because manufacturing comes only because there is a consumption demand”.

The minister suggested managing that demand in a better and more sustainable way.

Speaking at the event, M K Nir Barkat, Minister of Economy and Industry, Israel, said the trade and economic relationship between the two countries is growing.

A corridor, spanning from India through the UAE, Israel, and extending to Europe, would help in further strengthening economic ties, he added.