India Doing Its Part, Says Modi, Announces Green Partnership With U.S.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Modi announced an India-U.S. partnership on climate and clean energy at the virtual climate summit hosted by President Biden. “Together we will mobilise investments, demonstrate clean technologies and enable green collaborations,” he said.

In an address lasting a little over four minutes, Modi, while calling for concrete action at high speed on a large scale to combat climate change, underscored that India was doing its best to meet the challenge. The country had taken “many bold steps” on clean energy, energy efficiency, afforestation and biodiversity despite its development challenges.”

“We in India are doing our part,” he said. “India welcomes partners to create templates of sustainable development… these can also help other developing countries who need affordable access to green finance and clean technologies.”

There was no mention of India setting zero emission goals although President Biden is reportedly keen on that. The U.S. has pledged to cut emissions by 50-52 per cent by the end of this decade. This means huge changes to the American way of life including elimination of coal and a big push for electric mobility. But setting targets is the easy part. With a deadlocked Senate, it’s not clear how Biden can push through his ambitious climate legislation.