The United States and India are committed to implementing the Paris Agreement on climate change in a timely manner, according to a joint statement released following a Wednesday meeting of Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Indian Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker.
“The Sides reaffirmed their commitment to combat climate change and its effects. They reiterated their resolve to work together and with others to promote full implementation of the Paris Agreement to address the urgent threats posed by climate change,” the joint statement says. The U.S. also reaffirmed its commitment to join the agreement by the end of the year. India has pledged to work toward ratification of the agreement in 2016 but has not offered an outright commitment.
The Paris Agreement, the first international climate deal to include both developed and developing nations, was adopted in December at the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. India supported the deal in Paris and was one of 176 nations to sign the document on April 22, the day it opened for signature.
The accord will take effect once ratified by 55 nations representing at least 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Joining occurs when a nation ratifies the agreement through whatever means are required domestically. Currently, 24 nations representing only 1.08 percent of global emissions have joined the agreement. India, one of that world’s top emitters is responsible for 4.1 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.
The U.S. and India have a history of collaboration on clean energy and climate change issues, including the deployment of carbon capture and storage technology. The U.S. has committed to try to help the nation develop as greenly as possible, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall said in an interview published in The Economic Times Thursday. “We are urging India to work with us on the development and deployment of solutions that will enable you to use coal in a way that you can meet your climate goals. That means both more efficient coal-fired power plants and also the capture of the CO2 emissions,” Sherwood-Randall said.