‘India, EU need to work together for green future,’ says EU envoy

Asserting that New Delhi’s role in green hydrogen is important, Ugo Astuto, Ambassador of the European Union to India and Bhutan has said that both India and the EU need to work together for a green future. "India’s role in green hydrogen is very important. We need to work together for a green future. We are both massively investing in renewables. It’s already happening and it`ll be fast," Ugo Astuto said during an event in Delhi on Thursday.

A panel discussion was held here on `India-EU Cooperation in Green Hydrogen: Towards Sustainable Energy Transition`. The panel said that Cooperation with the EU is very valuable to scale up production and utilization of Green Hydrogen in India.

The Ambassador of the European Union highlighted the potential of the India-EU partnership in Green Hydrogen and collective action on climate change mitigation.

"Glad to participate in this seminar organized by RIS. The potential of EU-India cooperation in Green Hydrogen is very significant!" he said. Vandana Kumar, Additional Secretary Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) @mnreindia addressed the conclave on India-EU Connectivity Partnership cooperation on Green Hydrogen and highlighted India`s mega renewable energy transition efforts and practical agenda on India-EU cooperation.

"Cooperation with EU is very valuable to scale up production and utilization of Green Hydrogen. Partnership in Technology innovation and regulation crucial to harness Green Hydrogen potential for energy transition," said Vandana Kumar.

The opening remarks were made by Dr Seshadri Chari, Member Governing Council RIS, a think-tank for fostering effective policy dialogue and capacity-building among developing countries on global economic issues.He said that hydrogen as a viable source of energy is possible and inevitable.

"India has been pioneering research in this field even before others are forced to look at it as an alternative due to geopolitical compulsions. Storage and transportation are challenges and the National Hydrogen Energy Mission (NHEM) will address these."

Tudor Constantinescu, Principal Adviser, for Energy 4 Europe also addressed the India-EU connectivity partnership forum online and highlighted investment, infrastructure, storage, R&D, and standards/regulation for green Hydrogen.

The India-EU Leaders` Meeting on May 8, 2021, announced a Connectivity Partnership, which envisaged a multi-pillar approach covering energy, digital, people-to-people and transport sectors, with an emphasis on rule-based, inclusive, quality and resilient connectivity.

As the green transition is a priority to both India and the EU, a series of workshops on important topics under the Connectivity Partnership is being organized.

RIS, along with the Ministry of External Affairs, the Government of India and the Delegation of the European Union to India, organised a hybrid programme on `India-EU Cooperation in Green Hydrogen: Towards Sustainable Energy Transition`.