Germany has praised India's strong environmental and climatic initiatives

Union Minister of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav held productive discussions on Thursday about the environment, climate change, and other related issues with the German Federal Parliament's Committee on Environment, which is chaired by Member of Parliament (MdB) Harald Ebner.

During the talks held in New Delhi, the two sides explored how Germany and India might cooperate to develop long-term solutions to these problems.

According to information provided by India's Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change, other topics that were covered during the meeting included urban migration, sectoral climate action plans and successes, circular economy, e-waste, water body conservation, drinking water, fertiliser issues, and sustainable living.

During the meeting, the German delegation praised India's strong environmental and climatic initiatives despite its enormous size and population and said that Germany fully supports India's G-20 Presidency.

The Union Minister recognised Germany's assistance to India in solving environmental and climate change-related issues while acknowledging Germany's assistance in the Ganga Rejuvenation project. He said that collaboration between India and Germany was necessary to solve environmental issues on a global scale.

By mentioning examples like NCAP, Biofuel, Kalyan Yojana, Amrit Sarovar, 500 GW objective of RE, and BS-VI, he also emphasised that under the direction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has been engaging in various real climate activities both locally and internationally.

"India always endeavours to be part of the solution, and not part of the problem," Bhupender Yadav said.

Furthermore, Bhupender Yadav spoke in detail about how India is leading international efforts to combat climate change, including ISA, CDRI, and LeadIT. He also praised Germany for joining ISA. Later on, he emphasised the need for conscious consumption and the circular economy, noting that India is encouraging the latter from three angles: legal, capacity, and market economy.

In response to the questions posed by the German delegation, the Union Minister emphasised that India's climate initiatives are based on the CBDR-RC concept. He said that India has already surpassed the goals for renewable energy and energy intensity set forth in the first NDC. In addition, India has set these goals in conjunction with the beginning of Mission LiFE.

At the end of the conference, both parties decided to enhance the Indo-German Bilateral Cooperation on Environment and Climate and to look into other areas where cooperation between the two nations would be possible, such as water body conservation, the circular economy, and e-waste.