Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that India will work closely with the US on “Mission Innovation” that was launched by US President Barack Obama and his French counterpart Francois Hollande on Sunday, ahead of the Conference of Parties (CoP-21) climate summit that got underway in Paris.
“Mission Innovation” is an initiative to dramatically accelerate public and private global energy innovation to address global climate change, provide affordable clean energy to consumers, including in the developing world and create commercial opportunities in clean energy.
“India will work closely with US on Mission Innovation,” Modi said during a bilateral meeting with Obama on the sidelines of CoP-21.
Modi said that development and preservation should go-hand-in-hand.
“Protecting our climate is a priority for India,” he said.
Obama said that the US and India agreed that climate change was an “urgent threat”.
“A meeting between @POTUS (President of the United States) and PM @narendramodi on the sidelines of @COP21,” PMO India tweeted ahead of delegation-level talks between the two sides.
Earlier on Monday, Modi held bilateral meetings with French President Francois Hollande and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and a brief meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
After inaugurating the India Pavilion at the summit, the Indian prime minister also attended a lunch hosted by Hollande for the visiting world leaders.
US President Barack Obama on Monday said America “recognises its role in creating the problem of carbon emissions, and that it also embraces the responsibility to act on it.
Addressing the 21st Conference of the Parties (CoP-21), Obama said: “I have come here personally, as the leader of the world’s largest economy, and the second largest emitter to say that the US not only recognises its role in creating this problem (of emissions), we embrace our responsibility to do something about it.”
The US will reduce its carbon emissions 26-28 percent below the 2005 levels within 10 years, Obama said.
Obama’s speech was longer than 13 minutes, and the president ignored the repeated beeps, which indicated over-time.
He said world leaders must “reaffirm” their commitment to joint effort for public and private investment for green energy globally.
Nearly 150 global leaders have gathered here for this crucial UN climate meet that will continue till December 11, where a possible new global agreement on climate change would be discussed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday called for a global partnership to being clean energy to the reach of all people.
“We must come together in a partnership to bring clean energy within the reach of all,” Modi said in an address at an event on “Mission Innovation” hosted by US President Barack Obama at the Conference of Parties (CoP) climate summit that got underway here.
“Mission Innovation”, launched by Obama and French President Francois Hollande on Sunday, is an initiative to dramatically accelerate public and private global energy innovation to address global climate change, provide affordable clean energy to consumers, including in the developing world and create commercial opportunities in clean energy.
“This partnership will combine the responsibility of government with the innovative capacity of the private sector,” Modi said.
He said that access to energy and a better life was a universal aspiration just as clean environment and healthy habitats were.
“We will restore the balance between ecology and economy, and between our inheritance and obligation to the future,” the Indian prime minister said.