From action-packed high-octane action in Hollywood films, Arnold Schwarzenegger is now on a crusade for a sustainable future and is determined “to terminate climate change once and for all.”
Delivering a special address at the opening of the three-day Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) on Thursday organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), he said: “Climate change is not science fiction and it is impacting us right now. This is bigger than a movie and this is the biggest challenge of our times.” The former Governor of California was all praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and called Gujarat “the California of India” in terms of its clean energy actions.
Having just completed the filming of Terminator 5, he said he had the ability of stepping out of the fantasy world into the real world. From a world of 2,000 explosions and special effects movie magic, he was here to talk of the real action. Mr. Schwarzenegger, who is the founding chair of R20 Regions of Climate Action, also described the head of TERI R.K. Pachauri as the true action hero for his green crusade.
“Mr. Modi has shown that small actions and sub-national governments have tremendous power. They don’t have to wait for national governments to create action,” he said adding that Mr. Modi would prove the naysayers in the world wrong. Mr. Schwarzenegger said, “We must think differently if we are going to win the battle [against climate change] and change the world.”
Despite doomsday predictions, California’s green economy was going through the roof and the State attracted more than 50 per cent of the venture capital in the U.S. He said, “We don’t have to choose between environment and economy — we know that it’s possible. Sub-national governments can lead the way and they have the power to cut 80 per cent of the greenhouse gases. Everyone knows I love sequels,” he remarked, while he hoped for a Kyoto Protocol Part 2.
