India has joined the climate change challenge: Kerry

India has joined the climate change challenge, US Secretary of State John Kerry today said as he praised Indian efforts to combat the growing menace.
"During President Obama's trip to New Delhi earlier this year, the President affirmed its (US') far-reaching solar energy target, and our two nations agreed on a number of climate and clean energy initiatives.
"We are also committed to working closely together to achieve a successful global agreement in Paris," Kerry said in a major policy speech on climate change.
"So, India has joined in that challenge.
"And that came on the heels of the historic announcement in China that the United States and China, the world's two largest emitters of carbon pollution... Long regarded as the leaders of opposing camps in the climate negotiations, have now found common ground on this issue," Kerry said in his remarks on 'Road to Paris' at the Atlantic Council - a top American think-tank.

Kerry's comments came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi compared the threat posed by climate change to that of terrorism and called it as serious.

Kerry said the global energy market of the future is poised to be the largest market the world has ever known.
"We're talking about a USD 6 trillion market today with 4 to 5 billion users. That will grow to 9 billion users over the next few decades," he said.
Between now and 2035, investment in the energy sector is expected to reach nearly USD 17 trillion.
"That's more than the entire GDP of China. And you just have to imagine the opportunities for clean energy. Imagine the businesses that could be launched, the jobs that would be created in every corner of the globe," he added.

Kerry said the US needs to invest in new technology that will help bring renewable energy sources like solar wind and hydro not only to the communities where those resources are abundant, but to every community in every country on every continent.
"We'll have to stop government money from going towards non-renewable energy sources, like coal and oil. It makes no sense to be subsidising that, which is why the United States has been helping to drive efforts in the G-20 and APEC (Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation) to phase out wasteful fossil fuel subsidies.
"We've actually taken steps to prevent now global financial institutions from funding dirty power plants and putting public money into those things that we know are going to go in the wrong direction. We'll have to strengthen legal and regulatory frameworks in countries overseas to help spur investment in places where it's insufficient," he added.