German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock praised India’s efforts towards developing renewable energies on Tuesday during a visit to a village in the southwest of the capital New Delhi.
Every solar panel and every electric rickshaw makes it clear “that India has the potential to skip light years in climate protection” and avoid using fossil fuels as a way out of poverty, Baerbock said.
In Khori, Baerbock was shown solar systems which were being used to supply a farm and residential houses with electricity, and solar-powered water pumps which irrigated mustard plants.
Baerbock said earlier on Tuesday that Germany wants to work with India to advance the fight against climate change.
The climate crisis was the “biggest threat for this century for everybody in the world,” Baerbock told a forum in New Delhi.
“No army can protect us from this … So we can only fight this together,” she said.
India is the second most populous country in the world after China, and the fourth largest producer of carbon dioxide.
India is increasingly relying on renewable energy for growth and is building large solar power farms.
However, in view of its large energy needs, the country still depends largely on coal. India aims to become carbon neutral by 2070.
