The US on Monday said there was no divide with India on the issue of climate change and it would like to be the nation’s “best partner”, days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it clear that the country will not come under pressure of international community in this regard.
Ahead of the UN climate talks in Paris later this year, US said that there are opportunities for Indian businesses to lead the way in climate change as the innovations done here to become smarter, cleaner, productive and more profitable, will be attractive to a global community.
“As Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks to implement Smart Cities, Make in India, the Clean India/Swachh Bharat campaign, and works to deploy his goal of 175 GW of clean, renewable energy by 2022, there will be countless opportunities to utilise cleaner technologies,” US Ambassador to India Richard Verma said.
Adaption is important to address the impact of climate change and the US has already contributed USD three billion to the development of the climate fund, he added.
“In addition to traditional areas, the US is working closely with India to find ways to promote transition to a low-carbon clean energy future,” he said.
In February, the US Embassy and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy launched the India Clean Energy Finance Forum and the US-India Task Force on Clean Energy Finance.
Terming climate change as the “most complicated” challenge, the Ambassador said that it is a challenge with multiple causes and impacts and one that crosses all international boundaries.
“Its fundamental connection to development and growth sometimes make it politically difficult to accept that sweeping changes are necessary,” he said.
