India, Germany jointly firm up strategy for Paris climate meet
6 Oct 2015 5:53 AM IST
India and Germany on Monday agreed to work together to reach an “ambitious” climate agreement in Paris later this year and stressed that adaptation must be a central part of a balanced accord.
Noting the commitment of developed countries to jointly mobilize $100 billion from public and private sources per year by 2020 for funding green technology in developing countries, both the countries stressed that climate finance will play a “key” role beyond 2020 and also be an important part of the 2015 agreement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is on a visit to India, also emphasised that tackling the issue of climate change is of “vital importance” for the sake of today’s world and future generations.
“India and Germany express their readiness to work together and with other countries to reach an ambitious and universal climate agreement under the Convention (UNFCCC).They reaffirm that the protocol, another legal instrument or agreed outcome with legal force under the Convention applicable to all parties, shall address in a balanced manner...mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology development and transfer, and capacity-building, and transparency of action and support,” an Indo-German joint statement on climate change and energy technology cooperation said.
Germany welcomed India’s recent submission of its intended nationally determined contribution (INDC) or voluntary pledges to cut carbon emissions. India too appreciated Germany’s ambitious mitigation efforts, which included its goal to have at least 80 per cent electricity consumption from renewable sources by 2050 compared to 27 <g data-gr-id="18">per cent</g> today. India in its INDC submitted last week has pledged to curb its greenhouse gas emissions intensity by up to 35 <g data-gr-id="19">per cent</g> from the 2005 level and also announced that it aims at achieving around 40 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.
“Both nations underlined that adaptation must be a central part of a balanced Paris Agreement. Both countries will endeavour to continue their long-lasting cooperation in integrating adaptation into national and state development planning and action.
Now, German to be taught as additional foreign language in KVs
German will be taught in Kendriya Vidyalayas as an additional foreign language while modern Indian languages will be taught in Germany, according to an understanding reached between the two countries today to put a lid on a controversy that had erupted about a year back.
<g data-gr-id="61">An MoU</g> was signed between the two countries on the occasion of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit and under the understanding, a pact will be signed between the KV and Max Mueller Bhavan to formalise the arrangement.
"German will be taught as an additional foreign language," Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar told reporters here.
He added that side by side modern Indian languages will be taught in Germany. “We have a lot of scholars who are <g data-gr-id="56">intersted</g> in that (learning Indian language)," Merkel said earlier during a joint media interaction with PM Narendra Modi.
This marks an end to the controversy which had erupted about a year after KVs decided to stop teaching German as <g data-gr-id="65">third</g> language and replaced it with Sanskrit. The governing board of KV had in its meeting on October 27 last year directed that teaching of <g data-gr-id="62">German</g> language as an option instead of Sanskrit be discontinued.
The new understanding is a sharp departure from the earlier agreement of 2011 between the two countries to offer German as a third language in the KVs. HRD Minister Smriti Irani has been maintaining that teaching German was against the spirit of the three-language formula and violated the national education policy.
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