Canadian Minister of environment and climate change Steven Guilbeault and India’s Minister of environment, forest and climate change Bhupender Yadav recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the sidelines of the Stockholm+50 meeting in Sweden’s capital to raise bilateral cooperation in climate action, environmental protection and conservation.
Under the MoU, both countries have agreed to collaborate, exchange information and expertise, and support their respective ambition in a wide range of areas, including increasing renewable energy capacity, decarbonising heavy industries, reducing plastic pollution, supporting sound management of chemicals and ensuring sustainable consumption, according to an official report from the Canadian Government.
Both countries are intent on supporting each other’s climate and environmental goals by finding effective, long-term solutions that will also provide opportunities to advance economic growth and job creation. Canada has several proven clean technologies, such as water and waste management systems, clean hydrogen, smart grids and energy storage that could be of interest to India.
The MoU builds on existing cooperation between both countries, such as our common work as members of the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, which is advocating for world leaders to adopt a post-2020 global biodiversity framework to conserve 30 percent of the world’s marine and terrestrial areas by 2030.
As of March 2022, the High Ambition Coalition has 86 members, including Canada and India.
Canada has made historic investments in conservation and nature-based solutions, including $2.3 bn for Canada’s Enhanced Nature Legacy, $4 bn for the domestic Natural Climate Solutions Fund, and an additional $780 mn announced in Budget 2022 for a nature smart climate solutions top-up and extra investments for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for nature-based solutions.
