Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday, announced the launch of the India-US Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership while addressing the Leaders Summit on Climate, a two-day virtual event being hosted by US President Joseph Biden.

“As a climate-responsible developing country, India welcomes partners to create a template of sustainable development in India. This can also help other developing countries who need affordable access to green finance and clean technologies,” said Modi. “That is whyPresident Biden and I are launching the India-US Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership. Together, we will help mobilise investments, demonstrate clean technologies, and enable green collaboration,” he added.

“Despite our development challenges,” Modi said, “we in India are doing our part”. The Prime Minister noted that India’s per capita carbon emissions remain only 60 per cent of the global average. In 2016, per capita emissions in the US were nearly nine times more than India’s.

At the summit, Biden announced a new target for the US to achieve a 50-52 per cent reduction from 2005 levels in economy-wide net greenhouse gas pollution in 2030. The US summit has been held in the run-up to the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties, in Glasgow, in November.