European Commission’s climate policy chief Frans Timmermans began his two-day visit to India Thursday with a bilateral meeting with Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Prahlad Joshi.
Timmermans, the Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, will have bilateral meetings with Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav, Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy R K Singh, and Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Puri over Thursday and Friday.
According to a statement issued by the Delegation of the European Union to India and Bhutan, Timmermans will “discuss with government representatives, stakeholders and civil society the path towards the upcoming COP28 UN Climate Change Conference and latest developments at national level on emission reductions, the clean energy transition, and environmental protection”.
The former Dutch foreign minister will also participate in a high-level roundtable with national think tanks, civil society and business representatives organised by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water and will also deliver a keynote speech at the Annual Session of the Confederation of Indian Industry later today, focused on ‘Future Frontiers: Competitiveness, Technology, Sustainability, and Internationalisation’.
On Friday, he will discuss the EU-India collaboration on climate action and the clean energy transition with students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi.
On Saturday, Timmermans will travel to the Maldives, where he will meet President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to discuss the preparatory work towards COP28 and the growing impact of climate change on the islands.
