07/09/2005 – India should
use the summit with the European Union as
an opportunity to put its development and
energy agenda on the table and seek increased
investment in clean energy sources from Europe,
WWF said today.
India’s Prime Mr. Manmohan Singh and the
President of the EU Commission, Mr. José
Manual Barroso, are meeting today and tomorrow
in New Delhi to negotiate the detail of a
Strategic Partnership Agreement. The aim of
the agreement is to enhance cooperation on
a range of areas including environment, energy
and climate change. As part of the Political
Declaration on the EU-India Strategic Partnership,
the establishment of an EU-India Partnership
on Climate Change, Energy and Development
is foreseen. However, negotiations have so
far been very slow; the Indian government
has not shown great interest in a closer cooperation.
“India has the opportunity to put its vision
on clean energy development on the table and
pro-actively show the opportunities in this
field for foreign and Indian companies for
years to come,” said Mr. Samrat Sengupta,
Senior Policy Officer of WWF India.
“The EU is the market leader in clean energies;
it is regrettable that so far the Indian government
has not yet shown great appetite to close
the deal.”
Among the key issues to be discussed at the
meeting, WWF identified cleaner fuel options
and financial mechanisms to help the transfer
and effective implementation of renewable
energy and energy efficiency.
“India should see this event as an opportunity
to regain its position as leader of the Southern
countries,” said Sengupta.
“India can use this summit to send a strong
message that the country can project itself
as a proactive player in the international
negotiations on climate change.”
The EU would be a good partner to team up
with as they have a successful track record
in international climate agreements, said
the WWF spokesman. While the US administration
failed in its opposition to the Kyoto Protocol,
the world’s leading multilateral agreement
on containing climate change, the EU and Japan
made sure that the agreement came into force.
The EU‘s interest is to find support from
India and other countries to stabilize global
atmospheric CO2 concentration. The India-EU
partnership on climate and energy issues could
come through concrete and practical support
to India’s developmental agenda.
“India still seems to hesitate at the sidelines,
while China has already closed an agreement
with the EU,” said Mr. Sengupta. “If we are
not able to move forward now India may lose
an effective future ally for development and
technical assistance for clean energy.
