Tree Plantation Drives Nationwide
The central government is leading an ambitious environmental protection agenda through the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC). On World Environment Day 2024, the Prime Minister launched ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ (#Plant4Mother), encouraging citizens to plant trees honoring mothers and Mother Earth. This initiative aims to plant 140 crore trees by March 2025, with 109 crore already planted as of January 2025.
Protected Areas Expansion Program
India’s conservation network has grown substantially since 2014, with protected areas increasing from 745 to 1,022, now covering 5.43% of India’s geographic area. Community reserves have expanded from 43 to 220, while the country maintains 57 tiger reserves under the Wildlife Protection Act and 33 designated elephant reserves to safeguard these endangered species.
Wetland Conservation Achievements
India now boasts the largest Ramsar site network in Asia, adding 59 wetlands since 2014 for a total of 89 sites covering 1.35 million hectares. This positions India third globally by number of Ramsar sites. Recently, Udaipur and Indore joined the prestigious Wetland Accredited Cities list under the Ramsar Convention’s recognition program.
Tiger Conservation Success Story
The country hosts 70% of the world’s wild tigers, with the 2022 All India Tiger Estimation reporting 3,682 tigers nationwide. The tiger reserve network spans 82,836.45 square kilometers—approximately 2.5% of India’s total geographical area—highlighting the country’s commitment to apex predator conservation.
Climate Action Framework
India’s comprehensive climate strategy includes updated Nationally Determined Contributions and a roadmap to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070. The National Action Plan on Climate Change coordinates missions across sectors including solar energy, efficiency improvements, sustainable habitat, water conservation, Himalayan ecosystem protection, agriculture, health, and climate knowledge development.
Renewable Energy Transformation
The nation has reduced its GDP emission intensity by 36% between 2005-2020. Non-fossil sources now constitute 46.52% of installed electricity generation capacity. Total renewable energy capacity, including large hydropower, has reached 203.22 gigawatts—with renewable power increasing 4.5 times from 35 GW in 2014 to 156.25 GW currently.
Forest Cover Expansion
India’s forest and tree cover now comprises 25.17% of the country’s geographical area, creating an additional carbon sink of 2.29 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent from 2005-2021.
Global Climate Leadership
Despite historically low emissions contributions, India continues demonstrating climate leadership through proactive measures aligned with equity principles and common but differentiated responsibilities under the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement frameworks.
