This 16-year-old Swedish girl has a message for PM Modi

New Delhi: Sweden's Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old climate activist who last year inspired a global movement of children against global warming, asked world leaders to do double the EU's target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent by 2030. She also had a message for Prime Minister Narendra Modi through digital video publisher Brut India.

'You are going to be seen as one of the worst villains if you fail'

"Dear Mr Modi, you need to take action now against the climate crisis, not just talking about it because if you keep going on like this, doing business as usual, and just talking about and bragging about the little victories, you are going to fail. And if you fail, you are going to be seen as one of the worst villains in human history in the future. And you don't want that," said Thunberg, who has been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome.

Thunberg was given a positive response by activists and politicians for her speech at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December last year.

"We need to keep the fossil fuels in the ground, and we need to focus on equity. And if solutions within the system are so impossible to find, maybe we should change the system itself," she had told a crowd of politicians, climate scientists and journalists in Poland.

"We have not come here to beg world leaders to care. You have ignored us in the past and you will ignore us again. We have run out of excuses and we are running out of time. We have come here to let you know that change is coming, whether you like it or not. The real power belongs to the people," she had said.

While keeping growth a top priority, the country is working towards cutting its emissions. The International Solar Alliance, promoted by PM Modi, has 121-member nations so far with an objective to mobilise billions in investments by 2030 to drive growth of solar power generation.