By Business India Editorial

Germany has announced a new commitment worth more than €1.2 billion (Rs10,025 crore), to India to support its fight against climate change.

A statement released by Germany said the focus of the financial commitment to India will be to tackle climate change and assist in the country’s ongoing energy transition.

“Every fifth person on this planet is Indian. Without Indians you cannot solve any big world problems, and one of the biggest is climate change. We try to work together with India and help with climate change, renewable energy and similar projects, which also helps in working towards our own goals we promised at COP26 in Glasgow,’’ said German Ambassador Walter Lindner.

India and Germany together account for 9 per cent of the global greenhouse gas. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released earlier this year found that both countries will suffer more extreme events due to climate change.

“While we try to support India, we fulfil our own goals promised in Glasgow. Here, we assist India in a range of projects across the country that is huge in dimension. I travel a lot through this country and everywhere I find different project that the two countries are working together and learning from each other,” added the Ambassador.

“At COP26, India and Germany agreed to phase down unabated coal power. Germany will exit coal by 2038, possibly much earlier. And India has just joined a multilateral Coal Transition Programme funded by the Climate Investments Funds and supported by Germany. Very concretely, India has already identified 50 gigawatts of coal plants for retirement by 2027,” said a statement issued by the German Embassy.

Dr Claudi Warning, Director General from the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, said: India is the biggest development cooperation partner for Germany. This cooperation of 63 years is based on a strong foundation of shared values and vision. Both countries have borne the brunt of climate change.”

Germany is already working with India in the focal areas of Energy (€5.08 bn), Sustainable Urban Development (€3.16 bn), Management of Natural Resources and Agriculture (€435 mn) and other activities, particularly vocational training, health and social protection (€568 mn).

In the new commitment, Germany has allotted €713 million for energy, €409 million for urban development and €90 million for agroecology and natural resources. These projects will include supporting India’s targets to expand solar power generation.