Current Affair (27/09/2018)

United Nations: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron have been jointly awarded the UN's highest environmental honour for their pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and promoting new areas of cooperation on environmental action.

Modi and Macron are among the six of the world's most outstanding environmental changemakers recognised with the Champions of the Earth Award.

"This years' laureates are recognised for a combination of bold, innovative and tireless efforts to tackle some of the most urgent environmental issues of our times," the UN Environment Programme said.

Modi and Macron have been jointly recognised in the Policy Leadership category for their pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and promoting new areas of levels of cooperation on environmental action, including the French president's work on the Global Pact for the Environment and Modi's "unprecedented" pledge to eliminate all single-use plastic in India by 2022.

The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an Indian initiative jointly launched by Modi and the French president in November 2015 in Paris on the sidelines of COP-21, the UN Climate Conference.

The ISA is a treaty-based international body for promotion of solar energy in alliance with solar-rich countries located fully or partially between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.

Cochin International Airport has also been honoured this year with the award for Entrepreneurial Vision, for its leadership in the use of sustainable energy.