US envoy for climate John Kerry to visit India on 12 Sept; clean energy tops agenda

Washington: America’s Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry would travel to India next week during which the two countries would launch the Climate Action and Finance Mobilisation Dialogue, the state department has said. Kerry will travel to India from 12-14 September to engage with international counterparts in efforts to address the climate crisis. The state department said Kerry will meet with Indian counterparts and private sector leaders to discuss efforts to raise global climate ambition and speed up India’s clean energy transition. “During his visit, the United States and India will launch the Climate Action and Finance Mobilisation Dialogue (CAFMD), one of the two main tracks of the US-India Agenda 2030 Partnership that President (Joe) Biden and Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi announced at the Leaders Summit on Climate in April 2021, the State Department said on Friday. Kerry will bolster the US’ bilateral and multilateral climate efforts ahead of the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which will be held from 31 October to 12 November, 2021, in Glasgow, United Kingdom, the media release said. On August 24, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav had a telephonic conversation with Kerry during which both sides agreed that India and the US will engage for a constructive engagement under the India-US Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership. The US-India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership envisages bilateral cooperation on strong actions in the current decade to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. As a part of the Paris Agreement, India plans to reduce its carbon footprint by 33-35 percent from its 2005 levels by 2030 and have 40 per cent of its total installed power generation capacity from renewables by 2030.