German Federal Minister Schulze announced an additional funding of EUR 3.5 million in support of a green and sustainable development partnership, specifically for strengthening of implementation of SDGs and climate action at the level at the state level.

NITI Aayog and the German federal ministry for economic cooperation and development (BMZ) told held the inaugural NITI-BMZ Dialogue on development cooperation to lay down a pathway to strengthen mutual cooperation between the two countries, particularly to reconcile the imperatives of dealing with climate change with the goals of Agenda 2030.

The dialogue focused on five core areas of cooperation – sustainable development goals (SDGs), climate action, energy transition, emerging technologies and agro-ecology. Both sides deliberated ongoing engagements and identified potential cooperation in areas that can produce tangible outputs and learnings for India and Germany.

NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery drew attention to the Prime Minister Modi’s focus on individual responsibility for sustainable behaviour, embodied in his Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE) initiative.

German Federal Minister Schulze today announced an additional funding of EUR 3.5 million to support a green and sustainable development partnership, specifically for strengthening of implementation of SDGs and climate action in the states.

Federal Minister Svenja Schulze said, “India is a global partner for Germany, the EU and the G7. We are very serious about a real long-term cooperation with India to achieve the Paris Climate Goals, the SDGs and in particular a just energy transition in India.”

G20 Presidency

Hanging dense in the air as the virtual dialogue went on was India’s forthcoming G20 presidency.

“An important basis for the long-term GSDP is to discuss and agree on transformational concepts and policies, be it in the energy transition, sustainable mobility, climate resilience or the agro-ecological transformation,” Schulze said. “We are very much looking forward to the Indian G20 Presidency in 2023 and are ready to support India for a strong agenda on climate action and sustainable development.”

NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery said, “Germany is one of India’s most important partners. Indo-German partnership is as an example of success in a complex world. NITI-BMZ Dialogue in Development Cooperation will help our two nations realise our potential in embedding climate action in the SDGs, energy, emerging technologies and agro-ecology”.

NITI and BMZ reiterated their commitment on collaborating towards strengthening SDG localization at the city level and scaling-up SDG implementation in the context of climate change at the state level with capacity building and incentive systems for implementation.

Both sides highlighted the need to deepen engagement on the Lighthouse Cooperation on Agroecology and Natural Resources and to collaborate on scaling up natural farming in India, strengthening research in different agro-climatic regions for natural farming practices, working towards standards and certification of natural farming products for facilitating export and evaluating impact of natural farming for mitigating climate change and adapting to climate risks.

India and Germany signed a Joint Declaration of Intent on Partnership for Green and Sustainable Development (GSDP) on 2 May 2022. India and the G7 had also agreed to work towards a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) during the last G7 summit in Schloss Elmau in June 2022.