Narendra Modi's four-nation tour: India, Germany push for sustainable development

Berlin: It would be an “immoral and criminal act” to spoil the environment for future generations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday and underlined the need to protect nature, as the Trump administration mulls to overturn the US position on the 2015 Paris climate accord. [caption id=“attachment_3498697” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Narendra Modi and Angela Merkel in Berlin on Tuesday. PTI[/caption] Modi’s remarks came during a joint press interaction with German chancellor Angela Merkel after the two leaders agreed to continue cooperation towards the common aim of developing climate-friendly, efficient and sustainable solutions for India’s expanding energy needs and other areas of sustainable development. Emphasising the importance of protecting nature, Modi said “playing with the well-being of future generations would be an immoral and criminal act.” In response to a question on climate change, the prime minister reiterated India’s timeless values of nurturing and protecting nature. Modi also recalled India’s commitment to generate 175 GigaWatts of energy from renewable sources by 2022. Later in a joint statement, Modi and Merkel expressed great appreciation for the successful cooperation on fostering renewable energies in India. Building on existing formats of cooperation, the leaders reiterated their support to the Indo-German Climate and Renewables Alliance as an overarching alliance between India and Germany with the objective to give recognition to ongoing collaboration of various stakeholders on energy and climate change as well as to enhance cooperation and synergies in these fields. They underlined the importance of the Indo-German Energy Forum (IGEF) in contributing to the further development of the Indian energy sector. “Prime Minister Modi and chancellor Merkel reaffirmed the importance of the Indo-German Environment Forum (IGEnvF) in contributing to further cooperation on environmental issues, including biodiversity and climate change. They agreed to hold the next meeting of the Indo-German Environmental Forum in 2017 in New Delhi,” said a statement. Both sides expressed their commitment to work towards the goals expressed in the New Urban Agenda, agreed at the Habitat III conference in 2016. Until 2022 Germany intends to provide financial and technical assistance in the range of €1 billion. The two leaders welcomed the meetings of the Working Groups for collaboration in water management, waste management, circular economy, and climate change held in 2016 and took note of the scheduled meetings for 2017 including the meeting of the proposed working group on biodiversity. The leaders acknowledged, in particular with regard to the G20, the ongoing important work and activities at different levels to fight marine litter and to counteract its impacts. They stressed the need for cooperation to follow-up on the work done so far within the G20. Recognising the need to promote an ecosystem that creates entrepreneurial economy, Modi and Merkel agreed to promote cooperation in the field of startups by facilitating interaction with various stakeholders in the startups ecosystem. The two leaders welcomed the outcome of the annual negotiations on development cooperation held in October 2016, as well as the new envisaged commitments in bilateral development cooperation for 2017, each comprising an amount of €1 billion. India and Germany share a long-standing, trustful and successful development cooperation. Lauding Germany’s assistance in developmental projects over the years, Modi highlighted the successful Indo-German Solar Partnership founded in 2015 and the cooperation on Green Energy Corridors established in 2013. US president Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he will make a decision next week on whether the US will abide by the 2015 Paris agreement on cutting global carbon emissions. “I will make my final decision on the Paris Accord next week!” Trump tweeted from the G7 summit in Sicily.