India must continue to develop and pull its citizens out of poverty, but not at the expense of the planet, says a professor from the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management.
Speaking to RTCC at the Low Carbon Energy for Development Network conference, Binoy Choudhary said that with 50% of the Indian population still living without access to electricity it is still important for the country to develop.
However, he warned this could not be done at the expense of the environment, and that India had to make use of its renewable energy capacity – of which it is only using 12%.
Choudary used the example of the Sundarbans where communities have relied too heavily on the trees, something that could be prevented through finding cleaner, safer forms of energy.