Merkel offers €1 billion for green urban mobility in India

NEW DELHI: Angela Merkel, German Chancellor was on a two-day visit to India, on November 1, for fifth Indo-German Inter-Governmental Consultations to work on strengthening of bilateral ties. The German Chancellor expressed her readiness to provide India €1 billion for green urban mobility and signed a joint declaration on the same with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Also, the two countries agreed on providing financial support to climate initiatives aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

After the meeting, a joint statement was issued which said, both the countries agreed that a key challenge is to provide low-carbon and sustainable mobility solutions that serve the needs of all citizens.

During the meet, both India and Germany agreed to dedicate a part of the €35 million under the framework of the bilateral call of the International Climate Initiative to grid expansion and storage systems for renewable energy and a part to restore forest landscape.

The joint statement also said that forests are crucial to safeguard the climate, to protect biodiversity and to contribute to sustainable development.Therefore, new models for restoration of forests if implemented can help India to achieve its goal to attain 33 per cent forest cover.

Both the leaders discussed on climate change issue and acknowledged their responsibility for the protection of environment and climate change mitigation by enhancing their potential in the renewable energy sector and working towards reducing carbon footprint.

As per the joint statement said that the two countries (India and Germany) have the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement as guiding frameworks in their cooperation. They highlighted that both the countries need to closely cooperate for a successful energy and transport transition, to learn from each other and to capitalise on the economic potential of climate protection.”

The two also emphasised on the significance of replenishment of the Green Climate Fund and encouraged other countries, capable enough, to do so to increase their contributions to the Green Climate Fund, in line with the provisions mentioned under the Paris agreement and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Further, the meet also saw discussions highlighting Indo-German Solar Partnership launched in 2015 and the cooperation on Green Energy Corridors that came up in 2013.

The PM and the German Chancellor both favored promotion of climate-friendly development and therefore discussed on the renewable energy targets. The meet saw discussions to achieve the ambitious targets set up by the Indian government to generate 175 GW power from renewable energy sources by 2022 and 450 GW in further years and of the Government of Germany to fetch 80 per cent of total power from renewable energy sources by 2050.

Earlier in February this year, the Government of India had collaborated with the Germans to tackle air pollution and exchanged a joint declaration for the execution of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).