EVP Frans Timmerman concludes his two-day visit to India
New Delhi, 26 May, 2021: European Commission Executive-Vice President (EVP) for the European Green Deal Mr Frans Timmermans concluded his two-day visit to India (25-26 May). The visit focused on preparations for COP 28, COP 16 and G20 and on strengthening EU-India cooperation against climate change and biodiversity loss. The EU and India have been collaborating closely to speed up the deployment of renewable energy including hydrogen, promote energy efficiency, collaborate on smart grid and storage technology, and modernise the electricity market, as part of the EU-India Clean Energy and Climate Partnership established in 2016.
During his visit, EVP Timmermans held bilateral meetings with the Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Mr. Bhupender Yadav; Minister of Power, New and Renewable Energy, Mr. Raj Kumar Singh; Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Pralhad Joshi; Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr. Hardeep Singh Puri and Minister of Finance, Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman.
The discussions revolved around how India and the EU can work together to ensure a diversified and resilient global supply chain for the energy sector, and how both could further leverage Trade and Technology Council to strengthen such cooperation. During the recently held ministerial meeting of the EU India Trade and Technology Council, both sides agreed to further deepen their partnership on green and clean energy technologies as well as developing resilient value chains in view of safe and sustainable development.
During the bilaterals, both sides also touched upon exchange of information and best practices on just transition, reducing methane emissions in the energy sector, carbon pricing, climate financing, including Loss and Damage funding arrangements, as well as cooperation with the International Solar Alliance. In several of the meetings the Executive Vice-President set out the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and its sole focus on avoiding carbon leakage
Apart from the bilateral meetings, the Executive Vice-President engaged with industry, think tanks and civil society at a roundtable organised by the Council for Energy Environment and Water, and discussed the pathway to a successful COP 28. He delivered a keynote speech at the Annual Session 2023 of the Confederation of Indian Industry. He reiterated the need to set a collective global goal for renewable energy to be generated in a certain time frame. Emphasizing that India is a key partner for the EU, he said, “My invitation is that let's create it together: the right forum, the right discussion forms, the right ideas, the right scientific developments, the right industrial applications that will allow the European Union and India to work much more closely together for the benefit of our people, but also for the benefits of the whole planet.”
On 26th May, he also discussed EU-India collaboration on Climate Action and the Clean Energy Transition with students at the Indian Institute of Technology, in Delhi.
The EU-India strategic partnership is underpinned by the shared values of democracy, freedom, rule of law and respect for human rights. The EU and India are stepping up their cooperation on the world stage and in multilateral fora and have a collective voice on global issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, environment, clean energy, trade among others.
The EU aims to be climate-neutral by 2050 – an economy with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. This objective is at the heart of the European Green Deal and enshrined in its climate law, and in line with the EU’s commitment to global climate action under the Paris Agreement.
