India briefs Kerry on its efforts to meet commitments under Paris climate deal

India has apprised US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry of its wide-ranging efforts to meet the commitments under the Paris climate agreement and to reduce emissions, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday.

On a visit to India, Kerry has called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held separate meetings with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on issues relating to global climate action.

At a media briefing, MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said Kerry appreciated Modi's vision and global leadership in climate action, especially India's ambitious target of generating 450 gigawatt of renewable energy by 2030.

He said the two leaders discussed the need for supporting climate action by all countries, in line with their respective national circumstances.

Under the Paris Agreement, each country has to set its own emission-reduction targets, known as national determined contributions (NDCs).

''Given our complementary strengths, the prime minister and special envoy Kerry agreed to collaborate on a 2030 agenda, with a focus on clean and green energy through enhancing the availability of climate finance, building resilient infrastructure, energy storage and green hydrogen,'' Bagchi said.

He said the Indian side briefed Kerry about the country's wide-ranging efforts to meet the commitments under the Paris Agreement and to reduce emissions.

''The meetings with special envoy Kerry were very productive. Both sides discussed the global challenge of climate change in the context of several multilateral events later this year, leading up to the COP26 summit in Glasgow,'' Bagchi said.

After taking charge as the US president, Joe Biden on January 20 announced the return of the United States to the Paris climate accord.

He has invited 40 world leaders, including Modi, to the virtual summit on the climate crisis later this month.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are among the key leaders invited to the two-day conference beginning April 22.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)