India, Germany begin talk on climate goals, energy transition and emerging technologies

India and Germany on Monday began a bilateral talk with an aim to strengthen cooperation on sustainable development goals, energy transition, emerging technologies and agro-ecology, an official statement said.

The inaugural NITI-BMZ Dialogue of Development Cooperation was held between Indian government think-tank NITI Aayog and German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the statement said.

According to the statement, both sides deliberated ongoing engagements and identified potential cooperation in areas that can produce tangible outputs and learnings for India and Germany.

The statement said NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery drew attention towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s focus on individual responsibility for sustainable behaviour, embodied in his Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE) initiative.

German Federal Minister Svenja Schulze said that India is a global partner for Germany, the European Union and the G7.

“We are very much looking forward to the Indian G20 presidency in 2023 and are ready to support India for a strong agenda on climate action and sustainable development,” he added.

According to the statement, both NITI Aayog and BMZ reiterated their commitment on collaborating towards strengthening SDG localisation at the city level and scaling-up SDG implementation in the context of climate change at the state level with capacity building and incentive systems for implementation.

During the discussion, the statement said, both sides highlighted the need to deepen engagement on the Lighthouse Cooperation on Agroecology and natural resources.