India, France sign pact to deepen cooperation in environment field

It is close to achieving 20 GW in the current fiscal itself and plans to auction 30 GW solar projects each in 2018-19 and 2019-20. The leaders underlined their commitment to furthering and deepening concrete projects and programmes under the aegis of the ISA to mobilise affordable financing for massive solar energy deployment, the joint statement said. Meanwhile, the two sides also reaffirmed their commitment to lead the fight against climate change, based on the principles of climate justice, fostering climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emissions development. They committed to fully implement the Paris Agreement at the COP24 and further on, under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as a part of an irreversible global process at combating climate change for the benefit of all humanity, the joint statement said. Both India and France stressed the positive contribution of the One Plant Summit' in Paris on December 12 last year to this objective. The French President thanked the Indian Prime Minister for India's support to the initiative to work on a global pact for the environment, the statement said. The two leaders also reaffirmed that the strengthening of the India-French technological cooperation on renewable energy was a common priority for encouraging the emergence and dissemination of innovation in all the sectors. They stressed the importance of mobilising public and private funds to support the development of solar energy. In this regard, they welcomed the establishment, within the International Solar Alliance, of an international committee of chambers of industry, and the willingness of the MEDEF, SER, FICCI and CII among others to join it, the statement said.

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