CM: Goa aims to be global green-tourism hotspot

Panaji: Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday said that the state government has set the target to make Goa among the world’s first green tourism hotspots.

“We are committed to transforming Goa’s tourism sector, making it among the first global green tourist hotspots,” Sawant said. “A strategic roadmap is already in place, and we will soon introduce several renewable energy and energy-efficiency interventions to decarbonise this nature-driven industry.”

Sawant said other critical sectors, such as transport, industry, health, and agriculture and fisheries are ready to implement a series of people-centric schemes. They will also run awareness drives and skilling programmes to ensure faster adoption of clean technologies and sustainable practices.

“On behalf of the Government of Goa, I invite all to play a proactive role in making the state’s Clean Energy Roadmap a reality and an example for the world,” he said.

Sawant said like Goa, all the states of India are collectively geared up to implement Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s fivefold strategy to meet India’s commitment to reach Net Zero carbon emissions by 2070.

“With our efforts towards building 500GW of non-fossil energy capacity by 2030, and our efforts to fulfil 50% of our energy requirements via renewable sources by 2030, we are certain that India’s experience, expertise, and assistance will help many in achieving climate and development goals,” he said.

The chief minister said that Goa recently developed the Clean Energy Roadmap, a state-level blueprint to decarbonise all sectors of the economy by 2050.

Sawant said Goa has set itself on the path of optimally harnessing solar power. “Our solar policy, rolled out through the Goa Energy Development Agency, is focused on the household generation of clean energy,” he said. “We have already increased solar power generation sevenfold since 2019.”

Guided by Goa’s energy vision, and following the Clean Energy Roadmap’s analysis, the state is certain that it will ensure 100% renewables-based electricity supply to all key sectors by 2050, or even much earlier, Sawant said.

“We have also been able to identify high-potential areas where the introduction of appropriate renewable energy technologies and energy and resource-efficient practices backed by the appropriate policy and regulatory measures can yield the maximum environmental, economic, and social returns,” he said.