Isra-Mart srl:Business leaders call for UK-India low-carbon alliance

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Business leaders from the UK and India have today released a flagship report detailing how the two countries can work together to build stronger trade ties for low-carbon goods and services.

The UK-India Business Leaders Climate Group, which was launched in the summer during David Cameron's visit to India, published the study at an event at the Foreign Office this morning and called upon the governments of both countries to endorse the group's recommendations.

Central to the report is a new Charter of Principles that details how the two countries could work together to accelerate the rollout of low-carbon technologies and deliver deep cuts in emissions, while also boosting trade and creating jobs.

The charter argues that the UK and India should work on joint research and development, demonstration and skills exchange projects to avoid duplication of low-carbon technologies and stimulate investment.

It also calls for the creation of innovative financing instruments to drive low-carbon investment and recommends "greater participation by businesses in the framing of climate change and low-carbon development policy, both domestically and internationally".

Rajan Bharti Mittal, vice chairman and managing director of Bharti Enterprises and co-chair of the UK-India Business Leaders Climate Group, said the charter should serve as a model for other bilateral low-carbon agreements. "Our economies have successfully partnered with each other in other areas for decades," he added. "We recognise that our future trade will be increasingly low carbon and is a priority for all progressive governments and businesses."

The report also contains a number of recommendations that the group claims could be taken up immediately by the British and Indian governments. These include proposals for a clean tech technology development directory that could provide British investors with details of early stage Indian clean tech firms, and plans for a Low Carbon Capital Manual offering advice on how to invest in green projects in India.

In addition, it calls for a high-level Low Carbon Economy Summit to be held in India in 2011 that would bring together the private equity/venture capital community in the UK with the technology innovators of India.

David Cameron welcomed the release of the report, arguing that it highlighted the central role business leaders can play in helping to tackle climate change.

"Some of the most powerful solutions to the climate change challenge will come from business," he said. "The innovation and creativity of business won't just help us save the planet, but is expected to create millions of jobs and billions of revenue in the green goods and services market. This report sets out a clear road map towards further collaboration between business leaders in our two countries."

In related news, India last week announced plans for a €2.5m (£2.1m) sustainable transport project backed by the by the German International Climate Initiative and supported by the United Nations Environment Programme, which will aim to deliver a national action plan for low-carbon transport and design low-carbon mobility plans for four major cities across India.

"Transport is one of the most challenging topics due to its continuing growth," said Germany's environment minister, Dr Norbert Roettgen. "Without effective measures and programmes, successes in reducing emissions in other sectors could be offset by increased emissions from transport. We need both a clear reduction of transport emissions in the industrialised world but also a slowdown of current emission trends in the developing world."