Sweden to help India to achieve net-zero emission before 2070
NEW DELHI: Sweden is working out a plan to help India to implement Article Six of the Paris Agreement to meet its netzero emissions target before 2070 by collaborating in the heavy industries sector, mainly steel and cement, three Swedish officials told Mint.
Article Six of the Paris agreement sets out how countries can pursue voluntary cooperation to reach their climate targets. It enables international cooperation to tackle climate change and unlock financial support for developing countries. Under Article Six, countries can transfer carbon credits earned from reducing greenhouse gas emissions to help one or more countries meet their climate targets.
The development comes at a time when Indian manufacturing companies are gearing up to meet the strict rules under the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). Indian steel companies primarily are major exporters to Europe and are looking at ways to reduce emissions and comply with these rules.
Both nations may also revise their agreement in the field of space to establish centres of excellence to bolster collaborations in technical, research & development and talent.
“With the Swedish energy agency and Vinnova, we are working together towards helping India in reaching the sustainability targets. We have conducted more than 30 workshops in several sectors. So far, we’ve chosen four— heavy industries (steel and cement), paper, pulp and automotive,” Cecilia Oskarsson, trade & invest commissioner to India at Business Sweden — The Swedish Trade & Invest Council said.
Vinnova is Sweden’s innovation agency, which strengthens Sweden’s innovative capacity and contributes to sustainable growth.
“We have four strategic country programmes. India is one of them. And we have focus on Southeast Asia as well as Germany. So, we have a specific, targeted India programme where we want to build cooperation. The work in India has been going on since 2009 and the backbone of our work here is Sweden-India innovations accelerator programme for small and mid-sized businesses that have innovative solutions related to energy,” said Ludvig Lindstrom, senior business developer, international market development at Swedish Energy Agency.
“Now, we also want to work with heavy industry, mainly steel and cement. Then we’re talking about the whole value chain from energy supply, supply of raw materials, the process itself and use the whole value chain,” Lindstrom said.
This will be under the umbrella of the Paris agreement to reduce emissions and speed up the transition, Lindstrom added.
Swedish Energy Agency is a government agency responsible for transitioning the energy system towards sustainable energy system, including everything that is fossil free.