China and India announce climate collaboration
World’s first and third biggest emitters of GHGs, announce a new era of cooperation on climate change in a landmark joint statement released on Friday
China and India, the world’s first and third biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, announced a new era of cooperation on climate change in a landmark joint statement released on Friday.
The statement was issued during Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China, and calls on wealthy nations to provide finance and technology to support developing countries’ efforts to cut emissions.
The statement said: “The two sides urged the developed countries to raise their pre-2020 emission reduction targets and honour their commitment to provide $100 billion per year by 2020 to developing countries.”
The announcement does not include any commitments or pledges but says the two countries will submit their GHG reduction plans by the October deadline set by the UN in advance of the crucial COP21 climate negotiations taking place in Paris in December.
India has been under pressure to make climate pledges since China and the United States - the world’s top two emitters - agreed to new limits earlier this year on carbon emissions. Reduction after 2025
Modi (pictured right) has indicated that he will not succumb to international pressure to cut emissions and the government has cited the urgent need for industrial development to alleviate poverty and sustain economic growth.
Analysts have predicted that India’s focus will be on increasing the use of clean energy and the government has targets to quintuple India’s renewable energy generation capacity by 2022.
The two nations will continue their collaboration on clean energy technologies, energy conservation and renewable energy generation, according to the joint statement.
