US climate envoy John Kerry and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday discussed how the US could help mobilize finance to shift to cleaner energy sources and fight against climate change. Kerry said the talks include reducing the risk of India’s financial losses due to the energy transition by using concessionary finance, which typically comes in the forms of loans with lower terms than market rates.
Kerry added that the US could invest in helping India start producing alternative fuel quickly. However, he did not provide more specifics. The meeting with Modi came ahead of President Joe Biden’s climate summit in Washington on April 22, which will be attended by 40 world leaders.
India ranks third as the world’s biggest emitter behind China and the US. The country is under pressure from the US and the UK to decarbonize its economy by 2050. Reuters reported that New Delhi was set to announce a 2025 carbon neutrality goal. India’s energy consumption is projected to grow faster than any other nation in the next twenty years.
