'Difficult for India to mitigate climate changes without support'

Self-sustainability in terms of mitigation for climate change would be difficult for India without external help, European Union Counsellor for Environment, Energy and Climate Change Henriette Faergemann said on Wednesday.

She was speaking on the possibilities of investment for cleaning Ganga and promoting wind energy.

"Absolutely, help will be required. We have lots of public financing options though," Faergemann told IANS on the sidelines of "The World Sustainable Development Summit" (WSDS), organised here by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

Appreciating India for ratifying Paris Climate Agreement, she said that the EU is all set to submit its instrument of ratification for Paris Climate agreement at New York on Friday, October 7.

She also spoke of exploring opportunities for Wind Energy in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.

"India, one of the largest emerging economies with a population of over one billion and with challenges of sustainable food supply, adequate infrastructure, management of water and other natural resources and energy security. Unfortunately, these will be exacerbated withe the imapct of climate change," she said, adding that India is key actor for the successful implementation of the Paris Agreement on account of its influence on developing countries.

She expressed interest in expanding the EU-India cooperation to other climate-related issues.

"We are good at exporting our technologies. Every year, we export 35 billion euros worth of renewable equipment... As per estimates, it will mean $13.5 trillion of investment in renewables and energy efficiency over the next 15 years," she said at WSDS.

--IANS

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