India promises First Green Commonwealth Games

India Saturday said it will hold the first-ever Green Commonwealth Games in 2010 and the best-ever sporting show and underlined that the event will propel New Delhi to a world class city. Suresh Kalmadi, chairman of the organizing committee of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, made the remarks at a 'sports breakfast' that the leaders and sports ministers of former British colonies attended. The breakfast was held at the seaside Hotel Hyatt, where most of the world leades participating in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) are staying. Addressing the gathering, Kalmadi reaffirmed India's commitment to holding the best-ever Commonwealth Games and a unique event that will have environment and climate as its focus. 'We will hold the best ever Commonwealth Games and the first green Commonwealth Games,' Kalmadi told journalists here.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday made a vigorous pitch for 'equitable and balanced outcome' at the upcomming UN conference on climate change at Copenhagen during his intervention at a special session devoted to climate change at the CHOGM meeting. 'Environment today is a critical component. Recognising this, we will strive towards reducing the carbon footprint to hold the first-ever Green Commonwealth Games and thus become the benchmark for all multi-disciplinary games in the future,' Kalmadi said at the sports breakfast. India will invest in green infrastructure, pro-active waste management, greening and green ceremonies, Kalmadi said.