India Joins U.S. Goal to Cement Climate Deal This Year

Prospects for quicker implementation of the Paris climate change agreement got a little brighter today, when India Prime Minister Narendra Modi essentially backed a U.S.-China push to get the deal entered into force by the end of 2016.

 

The pledge, announced during daylong White House meetings between Modi and President Barack Obama, was made as both leaders also announced a possible breakthrough on global efforts to cut hydrofluorocarbons, highly potent greenhouse gas, under the Montreal Protocol.

 

The U.S. and India will work toward a single amendment to the protocol to rapidly phase down production and use of the refrigerant, with the U.S. backing more funding for that transition, they said.

 

On the climate agreement, the U.S. reaffirmed its commitment “to join the agreement as soon as possible this year,” according to the declaration, and India “similarly has begun its processes to work toward this shared objective.”

 

It was the clearest indication yet that India—whose ratification of the climate deal is crucial to getting it implemented by year’s end—would join the U.S. and China in working to do so.

 

Read More: India Joins U.S. Goal to Cement Climate Deal This Year | Bloomberg BNA