India-UK green partnership a model to learn from: Advocates

With the UK announcing a $1.2 billion package of public and private investment in green projects and renewable energy in India to tackle climate change, climate advocates on Friday said the partnership is a trendsetter for countries that how the public and private sectors can work together to speed the clean energy transition.
This global partnership will boost private finance to support India’s ambitious commitment to deploy 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030.
Responding to the announcement by UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday, Michael R. Bloomberg, UN Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions and Chair of Climate Finance Leadership Initiative (CFLI), said:
“This partnership is a great example of how the public and private sectors can work together to speed the transition to clean energy and make possible the deep emissions cuts we need to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement and beyond.
“The Climate Finance Leadership Initiative is working to eliminate barriers to investment and create market conditions to drive more capital to green projects — and this collaboration between India and the UK, two of the world’s largest and most dynamic economies, can create a model for countries around the world to learn from.”
Climate Program WRI Director Ulka Kelkar said the massive scale of India’s low carbon transition will require upfront capital investments.
“Dedicated funding like this can be used to build new green energy, industry, and urban infrastructure and avoid lock-in to carbon-intensive projects.
These new funding initiatives should also prioritise investments in decentralised rural energy and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which have great potential to reduce emissions and support livelihoods but have lower capacity to access finance.”
Adequate financial support has always been a vital concern for climate action, and more so as India moves ahead in its quest for a clean future, said Akhilesh Magal, Head (Research Advisory), Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI). (IANS)