 great honor to present this year's Global Energy and Environment Leadership Award to the Prime Minister of India, the Honorable Shree Narendra Modi. As the Prime Minister of the world's largest democracy and one of its most dynamic economies, Prime Minister Modi has been guiding India towards economic growth, energy security, and environmental stewardship in this age of energy transition. In my new book, The New Map, I devote a special section to India and what has been accomplished in the country because of India's importance in the world economy and as a home of more than 1.3 billion people that is defining its distinctive paths of energy transition. As a report from the Indian government put it, energy is the mainstay of the development process of any economy and that is surely true of India. As India strives to meet its climate and environmental objectives, it also needs growing energy supplies to power economic growth and promote equity and rising living standards that will bring hundreds of millions out of poverty and into the middle class, one of the largest middle classes in the world. In my book, I quote a very striking comment I heard the Honorable Prime Minister make in one of our first meetings about what he called the need for new thinking. He has brought this thinking and broad perspectives to his government's policies on climate and energy. Under Prime Minister Modi's leadership, the Indian government is pursuing an energy agenda that is diverse, market-based, inclusive, and focused on environmental sustainability. India is pushing aggressively into renewable energies with very ambitious targets for wind and solar. It's also the home of the International Solar Alliance. Next generation fuels are also high on India's energy agenda. These include hydrogen and biofuels with the latter rooted in farming villages across the country. The Indian government has focused strongly on energy efficiency and the circular economy. Just one example, under the government's flagship efficiency program, more than 360 million LED bulbs have been distributed. The new thinking and energy has included a shift towards markets and to reforms that encourage domestic and international investment to increase supplies, foster innovation, and keep the country growing. Prime Minister Modi is shifting India towards a gas-based economy. Doing so will transform the use of energy across the Indian economy, reduce urban pollution, and unlock new opportunities across the nation. Central to his government's agenda is poverty alleviation through energy inclusion. Under Prime Minister Modi's leadership, India launched a clean cooking fuel program that has provided families that sit below the poverty line with LPG for their household cooking needs. These are all tremendous accomplishments. They also require partnership with private industry and investment, which is why it's so important that business conditions in India have improved under Prime Minister Modi. In the World Bank's ease of doing business rankings, India since 2014 has jumped 79 positions from 142 in 2014 to 63 in 2019. Ladies and gentlemen, the story is clear. Across the new map of energy, Prime Minister Modi is leading India down paths that lead to environmental sustainability, energy diversity, greater reliability, innovation, and support economic growth. For these reasons, and for the vision that he's promoting, and for the vision that he's implementing, we are honored to present the 2021 Sierra Week Global Energy and Environment Leadership Award to the Honorable Prime Minister of India, Sri Narendra Modi. Honorable Prime Minister Modi, many congratulations, and we look forward to listening to your message to the Sierra Week community, to India, and to the world. Thank you, Dr. Dan Yergin. Thank you, Dr. Dan Yergin, for this kind introduction. Thank you all distinguished guests for being here. Namaskar. It is with great humility that I accept the Sierra Week Global Energy and Environment Leadership Award. I dedicate this award to the people of our great motherland India. I dedicate this award to the glorious tradition of our land that has shown the way when it comes to caring for the environment. Friends, this award recognizes environmental leadership, about leadership. It is commonly said that the best way to show it is through action. There is no doubt that when it comes to care for the environment, the people of India are leaders. This has been the case for centuries. In our culture, nature and divinity are closely linked. Our gods and goddesses are associated with some or other tree and animal. The trees and animals are also sacred. You can pick literature from any state in any language. You will find many examples of the close, born people and nature have enjoyed. Friends, 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. I would urge you all to visit Mahatma Gandhi's home in the coastal city of Porbandar, Gujarat. Next to his home, you will get very practical lessons on water conservation. There are underground tanks constructed over 200 years ago. They were built to save rainwater. Friends, climate change and calamities are major challenges today. Both are interlinked. There are two ways to fight them. One, and that is through policies, laws, rules and orders. These have their own importance, no doubt. I can share with you some examples. Share of non-fossil sources in India's installed capacity of electricity has grown by 38 percent now. We have moved to Bharat 6 emission norm since April 2020. This is equal to Euro 6 fuel. India is working to increase the share of natural gas from the current 6 percent to 15 percent by 2030. LNG is being promoted as a fuel. We just launched a national hydrogen mission last month for use of hydrogen as fuel. Recently, a scheme called PM Kusum was announced. This will promote an equitable and decentralized model of solar energy generation. But there is something beyond the world of policies, laws, rules and orders. The most powerful way to fight climate change is behavioral change. There is a very famous story many of you would have heard of. A small child was given a tone world map. The child was told to fix it thinking it could never be done. But the child actually did successfully. When asked how the child did so, the child said at the back of the world map was a figure of a man. All the child did was to assemble the figure of the man. And because of that, the world map also got assembled. The message is clear. Let us fix ourselves and the world will be a better place. Friends, this period of behavioral change is a key part of our traditional habits which teaches us consumption with compassion. A mindless throw of a culture is not a part of our ethos. Look at our farming methods or our force. Look at our mobility patterns or energy consumption patterns. I am proud of our farmers who are constantly using modern techniques of irrigation. There is growing awareness on improving soil health and reducing use of pesticides. Today, the world is focusing 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. Likewise, take eco-friendly mobility. You would be delighted to know that in India, we are working on a metro network in 27 towns and cities. Friends, for large-scale behavioral change, we need to offer solutions that are innovative, affordable, and powered by public participation. Let me give you an example. The people of India decided to embezzle LED bulbs on a scale that has never been seen before. As on 1st March 2021, around 37 million LED bulbs are being used. This has saved cost and energy. Over 38 million tons of carbon dioxide have been reduced per year. There is another example of India's give-it-up movement. A simple request made to people to give up their LPG subsidy for the benefit of the more needy people. Several people across India voluntarily gave up their subsidy. This played a major role in India being able to provide smoke-free kitchens to lack of households. LPG coverage in India has seen a remarkable growth from 55 percent in 2014 to 99.6 percent today. Women have been the major gainers due to this. These days, I am seeing one more very positive change. Waste to wealth is becoming the buzzword in India. Our citizens are coming up with unique recycling models in diverse sectors. This would give a boost to the circular economy. Our country is boosting waste to wealth generation under sustainable alternative towards affordable transportation initiatives. 5,000 compressed biogas plants will be set up by 2024 with a production target of 15 mmt. It would help the environment and further human empowerment. Friends, there is growing acceptance to ethanol across India. Based on people's response, we have decided to advance the target of 20 percent blending of ethanol in petrol by 2025 from the earlier 2030. Friends, it would make you all happy that over the last seven years India's forest cover has grown significantly. The population of lions, tigers, leopards and water fowls has grown. These are great indicators of positive behavioral changes. It is these changes that convince us that India is well on track to achieve its Paris Agreement targets well before the target date of 2030. Friends, India's vision for environmental transitions includes working with like-minded countries. The initial success of the International Solar Alliance has demonstrated how serious India is when it comes to making efforts for a better planet. We will keep making such efforts in the future. This is in line with Mahatma Gandhi's principle of trusty-ship. At the core of trusty-ship are collectiveness, compassion and responsibility. Trusty-ship also means using resource responsibly. Mahatma Gandhi rightly said and I quote, we may utilize the gifts of nature just as we choose, but in her books, the debits are always equal to the credits. Nature keeps simple balance sheet. Whatever is available or credited can be used or debited, but this has to be distributed properly because if we over-consume resources, you are snatching it from someone else. It is on a similar lines that India is speaking about climate justice to help fight climate change. Friends, now is the time to think logically and ecologically. After all, this is not about me or you. It is about our planet's future. We owe these to our coming generations. I once again thank you for the award. Namaste.