Speech by President von der Leyen at the International Solar Alliance

Thank you very much, Excellencies, Mr President and dear Minister,

Ambassadors,

Distinguished CEOs,

Thank you very much for welcoming me here and for organising this roundtable,

I am very pleased to visit the headquarters here of the International Solar Alliance. This is not only because the International Solar Alliance is one of India's flagship initiatives to fight climate change – as we have just heard – but also because the business case of what you are doing has never been better than today. And those who embarked on that topic 20, 25, 30 years ago would not have thought how dominant this business case is right now. Therefore, India and the European Union are closely aligned in the fight against climate change and, of course, have understood how precious solar energy is. Both India and the European Union have embarked on their way to net-zero. Europe wants to be climate neutral by 2050 and India by 2070. But in addition, India has committed to cover half of its energy demand from renewable sources already by 2030. This is amazingly good news. This is very ambitious. Congratulations. But it is the right way to go. In Europe, we have set ourselves similar goals. So we know how difficult it is to get there, but you have to be ambitious in these times where climate change is showing us every day what happens if we do not work against it and if we do not come up with innovative, affordable and effective solutions. And both India and Europe know that solar energy will play a decisive role in that.

The need for clean energy was never more obvious than today. Indeed, in India, people suffer from extreme weather. I read that the month of March this year was the hottest March since 122 years. But I can tell you, we have the same experience, of course, in the European Union: droughts, last summer, deadly floodings; wildfires; hurricanes in regions where we never ever had these extreme weather phenomena. And you all know that this is the beginning of what climate change shows us, of extreme weather conditions that will become more intense if we do not act decisively. And as we know that climate change is man-made, that is bad news, we have done it; but this is also good news, we can fix it, if it is man-made. So you know that the authority in the science of climate change, the IPCC, has just said that to prevent the worst effects of climate change, global emissions of CO2 would have to peak within the next three years.

At the same time, our demand for energy is drastically rising. You were describing it. In India, energy use doubled in the last two decades, and it will continue to grow. I want to say that this is, first and foremost, good news because it shows that India's economy is doing well – with all the benefit that it brings to citizens all across the wonderful and vibrant country you have here. So it is good news. But it also, of course, shows the urgency for our transformation to clean and sustainable ways of doing business and using that energy. Because we all know that this additional energy that you will need has to be clean, has to be green. We can do it, there are options, you touched on many of them. But it needs an enormous amount of determination on the political part, of investment on the public and the private side. So we have to step up our efforts in the energy transformation. And initiatives like the International Solar Alliance are key for this.

There is a second reason why the switch to home-grown clean energies is so important in these days. And of course, I am thinking about the war that Russia has unleashed against Ukraine. For us, Europeans, it is a stark reminder that our dependency on Russian fossil fuels is not sustainable. Because how can you do business with someone, who openly threatens Europe and wages war against one of your closest neighbours? So our transition to home-grown renewable energy is not only good for the environment, but it also becomes a strategic investment in security. Energy policy is also security policy. Because every kilowatt-hour of electricity we generate from solar, wind, hydropower or biomass reduces our dependency on fossil fuels in general. This is why the European Commission will present next month a new solar strategy of the European Union, as part of REPowerEU. We can discuss it later on in the roundtable, if it is of interest. Here too, India and the European Union are on the same paths. Prime Minister Modi has announced that India should be energy independent before it celebrates 100 years of its independence as a country. This would be in 2047. So it is in our common interest that this independence of fossil fuel that comes from abroad is a transformation into renewable and clean energy.

As you know, the European Commission has always been and will always be a strong supporter of the International Solar Alliance since it was created at the COP21 in Paris in 2015. And I commend the work that the Alliance is doing to develop new technologies. What you are doing is amazing. You are scaling up solar applications for agriculture, which are extremely needed. You are accelerating the production of green hydrogen with solar energy. You spoke about it and we can go in depth into that in our roundtable. You are capturing the infinite energy of the sun, and making it to all available and affordable. There will not be a green transition if it is not a just transition, if we are not able to leave nobody behind, but to take everybody along. So what you are doing is innovation put at the service of people. And I am really interested to hear from you, from businesses, from you who are active in the solar energy sector about your experiences, but also, of course, about your vision ­– the opportunities, the difficulties, let us talk about it.

The EU-India Clean Energy and Climate Partnership was adopted in 2016. As you know, we discuss a large variety of important issues there, be it smart grids or storage, the clean energy financing or our cooperation on green hydrogen – a big topic for Europe. But my visit also shows me – and all the discussions that we have – that there is so much untapped potential. So we can do so much together to improve the situation. We need to step up our cooperation. We can learn from each other how to finance, promote and deploy solar energy. How to secure global supply chains – this is a big topic since the pandemic, when we learnt what it means when all of a sudden global supply chains, because of the pandemic, were interrupted, with all the consequences – and the material, of course, needed for solar panels. How to identify the best areas to place those panels: fields, lands or rooftops, etcetera. Together, we can indeed increase the economies of scale and scope ­– dear Minister, you raised the topic – in tapping the power of the sun. We should do this through the International Solar Alliance. And there is a second point that we should have a look at, and this is Mission Innovation.

Mission Innovation is a global initiative of 22 countries and the European Union. Together, they represent more than 90% of global government investment in clean energy research and innovation. With Mission Innovation, we want to accelerate the innovation in clean energy – everywhere on our planet. And India is a key contributor to this common effort. The ministerial in India will be next year, it will be an important milestone because Mission Innovation is the place where our cooperation with India and other partners is moving the frontier for clean energy. So as I have spoken about the untapped potential, here is the place to really draw on it and to develop the common projects that will forge the path forward to the future.

I want to raise a last topic. Because you, rightly so, mentioned the potential of the African continent. And indeed, there are massive investment needs that we discovered also after or during the pandemic, not only in the European Union, not only in India, but also around the globe in the developing countries. And therefore, the European Union has developed Global Gateway, a EUR-300 billion-heavy investment initiative where the focus lies on green initiatives. Of course, there is a second focus on technology, the digitalisation, and a third one on resilience. But the main focus is on the Green Deal.

And here, EUR 150 billion are tailored for Africa to indeed do exactly what you said. They have an abundance of natural resources for green energy, but they need the investment. And it is in our common interest not only to develop but also to store or to transport these clean energies. So also here to work intensively together, to understand the signs of time, and to take this potential that is out there and really to do something about it, what is critical for our fight against climate change, that is the task of today.

So there is much we can achieve together, boost our economies. For us, the European Green Deal is our new growth strategy because we know: If there is a future for the economy, it is going to be a circular economy. If there is a future for energy, and we need energy, that has to be clean energy. If there is a future for a way to produce and to consume, we have to change it into the patterns of a green transformation. But this is our new green and growth model that we believe in.

The International Solar Alliance is emblematic of the kind of partnership we need to make this change happen. Because we all have our place under the sun and we will do whatever it takes to keep this planet liveable.

Thank you very much and I am looking forward to the discussion.