Denmark PM to meet PM Modi on climate change ahead of COP 26
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday and the two sides will review the Green Strategic Partnership and discuss collaborations on climate change mitigation ahead of the Glasgow (COP 26), people familiar with the matter said on the condition of anonymity.
A joint statement, spelling out how the two countries will collaborate on climate change, is expected at the end of the meeting.
“The Green Strategic Partnership guides the discussion on how to meet the climate challenges, and how to turn words into action,” said Freddy Svane, Denmark’s ambassador to India, adding that it will be the “greenest summit”.
On Thursday, ministry of external affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the Danish PM’s visit, beginning Saturday, is “very important” as it is the first head of state or head of government level visit since the onset of Covid-19 pandemic.
Frederiksen and Modi co-chaired a virtual summit between India and Denmark on September 28 last year, following which a joint statement was issued, stating that the green strategic partnership was a mutually beneficial arrangement to advance political cooperation, expand economic relations and green growth, create jobs and strengthen cooperation on addressing global challenges and opportunities; with focus on an ambitious implementation of the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
“India and Denmark agree to be at the forefront in the global fight against climate change. Both countries have set very ambitious national targets on climate and energy that will contribute to an ambitious implementation of the Paris Agreement. Together, the two countries will show the world that delivering on ambitious climate and sustainable energy goals is possible,” the joint statement had said. The partnership has four tracks—climate, energy, water, and green financing.
“There will be talks on taking the partnership to the next level. One of the key areas will be climate finance. In 2009, when we (Denmark) hosted COP 15 in Copenhagen, developed countries had made a commitment to mobilise $100 billion for developing countries by 2020 for climate mitigation and adaptation. We are quite far from that goal still. But the PM (Frederiksen) has said Denmark is committed to delivering its commitment to finance. We will honour our commitment and hopefully, the rest of the world will follow,” a senior official from Denmark said on Friday. said during an informal press briefing on Friday on the eve of Frederiksen’s three-day visit.
“Denmark stands out as an example and proves we can fight climate change and at the same time expand our economy. Our economy has grown from the early 1980s to double its size. Our energy consumption has been more or less stable,” the official added.
Denmark’s energy minister Dan Jorgensen visited India last month when he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s principal secretary PK Mishra, power minister RK Singh and environment minister Bhupender Yadav. One of the main areas of partnership for Jorgensen was setting up an offshore clean and wind energy hub in Tamil Nadu of about 1 gigawatt (GW).
“All eyes are on India. If India really wants to consolidate its role in climate change mitigation, it will enhance its NDC (Nationally determined contributions). India is already in a good place with its expansion in renewable energy. It has sought more financing from the developed world which I support. We need strong NDCs from big emitters to keep the 1.5 degrees target alive. The IPCC has already made it clear that all countries will need to transition to net zero at some point,” Jorgensen had said following his meeting with Yadav.