Partners in action | The Indian Express

Context: UN climate change summit, 2020 will be jointly hosted by UK and Italy in Glasgow, UK.

Work done in UK and India to address climate issues:

• Greenhouse gas emissions reduction: In June 2019, the UK passed a law that aims to lower all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. In October 2019, Indian railways has announced its goal of becoming net zero carbon emitter by 2030. UK’s economy grew by seventy percent since 1990. UK has reduced its emissions by 42 % since 1990. It has shown that economic development and emission reduction to prevent climate change can happen together. Currently, India comes at fourth place in the list of largest emitters of greenhouse gases after China, US and the EU.
• Renewable energy: Currently, UK generates one-third of total electricity from renewable sources. India aims to generate 40 % of electricity from non-fossil fuels by 2030. Recently, Ministry of Power report has said that India may achieve 40 % power from non-fossil fuel sources by 2020 and in March 2030, India will get 65 % energy from non-fossil fuel sources. UK is having largest offshore wind capacity in the world. It is also developing Hornsea Project One or Hornsea Wind Farm in the North Sea. Hornsea Wind Farm will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world. Offshore Wind Outlook 2019 report released by the International Energy Agency (IEA) says that offshore wind industry will become $1 trillion industry. 

Areas of collaboration between India and UK on climate-related issues:

• Disaster management and Monsoon forecasting: UK and Ministry of Earth Sciences collecting data for monsoon forecasting. India and UK have signed an MoU on cooperation in weather and climate sciences. UK is also an initial member of Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) that was launched recently at UN Climate Action summit.
• Electric mobility: British Company, EO Charging and Indian Company Yahhvi Enterprises Pvt Ltd are activity partners for providing Electric Vehicle (EV) Chargers and EV Charging Infrastructure across India. This will help India in its National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 and addressing air pollution.
• Energy Sector: India and the UK has established the Green Growth Equity Fund (GGEF). The fund was established with anchor investment from National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and UK government. India and UK have contributed 240 million pounds anchor capital into GGEF. First investment under GGEF has been made in Ayana Renewable Power. It is working to develop 800MW of solar generation capacity. India and UK are also working on technologies to replace fossil fuels with renewable fuels. UK is also part of the International Solar Alliance led by India.

Conclusion: As both India and UK are doing significant work to address climate change, their relations can grow significantly over the issue of climate change. Two countries can learn from climate change mitigation efforts and experiences of each other and this will ensure that their bilateral relations continue to grow sustainably.