Norway sees India as an important player against climate change

Norway on Sunday said that it saw India as an important player against climate change and that both countries could play a leading role in tackling the global issues of environment and climate change. Norwegian Minister of Climate and Environment Sveinung Rotevatn lauded India's ban of single-use plastic to curb plastic pollution and the Swachh Bharat Mission.

The Norwegian Minister and India's Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar had met at the 13th Conference of Parties (COP 13) to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) on Sunday at the Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar to discuss bilateral and global issues on climate and environment.

The COP 13 will be held in Gandhinagar from Monday to Friday.

The Norwegian Minister said: "Norway sees India as an important international player on climate and environment. India is showing the world that economic growth and bold action on climate can go hand in hand. We are impressed with India's efforts to beat plastic pollution, including Clean India Campaign."

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Addressing the conference, Javadekar said that India and Norway will work together in exerting pressure on all countries for quick climate action and stressed that the finances promised to the developing world should be followed up.

"On climate change, we have stressed that finances, which were promised to the developing world and have not come in the last 10 years, needs to be followed up. The amount stands at USD 1 trillion. All countries should create a buzz around it. So we have decided to partner in progress," Javadekar said.

Speaking further, Javadekar added: "We have agreed upon working jointly with Norway on the issues including development of relevant technology and create pressure for quick action on all countries. We also agreed upon strengthening our bond so that we can have joint efforts in waste management, ensuring marine litter goes down rapidly and India's cooling action plan speeds up."

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India and Norway had signed the letter of intent for establishing the India Norway Marine Pollution Initiative in 2019 to combat ocean pollution and had also signed an MoU to establish India-Norway Ocean Dialogue.

(With PTI inputs)

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