A senior Biden government official said Friday the US had put together a multi-country coalition to help India meet its ambitious target of producing around 450 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030, which costs around $ 600 billion.
John Kerry, the President's Special Envoy on Climate, said the US has set up a consortium of several countries that want to help India with money and expertise to help it achieve this ambitious goal.
Kerry made this remark to former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz during a virtual fireside chat at IHS CERAWeek, the world's leading energy conference.
“India has a plan to produce about 450 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030. That is a very ambitious target. It's a great target, but they need about $ 600 billion to make such a transition possible,” he said.
Funding this goal may be one of the biggest challenges for India, but they are determined to lead here and be a major player, he said, adding that the United States wants to work with New Delhi on it.
“I have put together a small consortium of several countries ready to help India with funding and transition,” he said.
“I've worked with major investment houses and asset managers in our country to see how much private sector capital can be channeled into the right place here so we can accelerate this transition,” said Kerry.
Many, many companies are looking at both ESG and SDG commitments and are now finding that focusing on a directly climate-related type of investment is very attractive, he said.
India, he said, is very focused on the idea of creating its own solar capacity.
“There is progress in solar modules that are 40 percent more efficient and not based on the same ingredients as the modules that China makes in a market they are currently cornering,” added Kerry.
“So there are future opportunities here for new supply chains, new power plant production units and technological advances,” he said.
“I think we will see a very different field of competition, number one.
“Number two, I think China, in the conversations I have had as a secretary and more recently at various conferences in recent years, expresses a willingness and desire to work with other countries, and I think you must say I think we haven't got it yet, “he said.
Kerry said the One Belt, One Road project in China is facing a challenge in funding coal in different parts of the world.
“About 70 percent of the new coal-fired power plant coming online in different parts of the world is funded by China, and we have raised this issue with them and that will continue to be a point of contention,” Kerry said.
“But I think, for example, with hydrogen, that's ‘jump ball' right now. We have to get much more involved in development,” he added.
“I know India, I have spoken to Indian industrialists and government leaders who are focused on the potential of India creating the hydrogen economy as the future,” said the President's Special Envoy on Climate.
He added that the US “can do this in a way that is not as energy-intensive as it is today, not as fossil-intensive as it is today, or as carbon-intensive, I should say, because if you – I mean, still carbon-intensive. That is here is the key. ”
Kerry said President Joe Biden had “set out the most ambitious climate change agenda not as a matter of ideology, not a question of politics, but solely a matter of listening to scientists and observing and evaluating the evidence.”