India, Denmark stand shoulder to shoulder on 'Green transition': Danish PM
Oct 11, 2021
New Delhi [India], October 11 : Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Monday said that India and Denmark will stand shoulder to shoulder on the Green transition and share a vision for a prosperous future.
Speaking at "The India-Denmark Green Strategic Partnership" event organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in New Delhi, Frederiksen said: "When it comes to Green transition, India and Denmark stand shoulder to shoulder."
"We share visions for a greener, brighter and more prosperous future," she added.
Both nations also agreed on a five-year action plan which outlines how Green Strategic Partnership will be implemented on the ground.
Denmark is the first country outside the tropic to ratify the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
Until recently, membership in the India-based ISA was limited to 121 sun-belt countries lying between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, but the alliance is starting to look beyond the tropics. There are now 124 member nations. The alliance's primary objective is to work for the efficient consumption of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
Stating that it is not enough only to set up ambitious goals, Frederiksen stressed that all countries must deliver on them.
"I know this is as important to India as it is to Denmark," Frederiksen said, adding, "Not only do we need to set targets. We also need to deliver real change."
Frederiksen also emphasised that "tackling climate changes in many ways is seen as an impossible task, but recently political will have started to shift".
"I feel that there is a new belief, it is like, there is a new urgency and of course, we can act on climate changes if we want to make a difference and if we want to determine our own destiny," she said.
Frederiksen stressed that the current situation is extremely critical. "The latest report from IPCC has made it clear to all of us, climate change is happening not in the future, it is happening right now."
"And unfortunately, it is happening faster than what we expected. The consequences are more serious than what we expected," she said.
Frederiksen is on a three-day visit to India. She met President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday.
