PM leads official UK visit to India
Greg Barker, Minister for Climate Change, joins high-level delegation of UK Ministers, business, industry, sport and culture in official visit to deepen and strengthen UK-India relationship.
28-29 July 2010
Prime Minister David Cameron, accompanied by a high-level delegation of representatives of UK business, industry, sport and culture, along with six Government ministers* including Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker, the Foreign Secretary, and the Chancellor, has led an official visit to India designed to strengthen the UK-India relationship.
The economy, global security and climate change were amongst the main issues discussed.
Low carbon growth at the heart of UK-India relationship
In an address to Indian and British companies, Greg Barker, Minister for Climate Change and Energy, urged that low carbon growth should be at the centre of the UK’s special partnership with India.
During the visit, both countries agreed to work together to help the Indian economy grow in a more energy efficient way, cutting emissions and helping businesses reduce their reliance on energy.
The energy intensity of India’s economy improved by a third between 1990 and 2007, making it more efficient than the US or China. India has pledged to further reduce the emissions intensity of its economy by 20-25% by 2020.
Mr Barker said it was time to ‘get on with practical solutions which will tackle both poverty and climate change and create real green business opportunities.'
Travelling out with senior business figures from the UK, he also visited the Tata BP solar manufacturing plant in the southern city of Bangalore to see how Indian manufacturers are scaling up investment in green technologies of the future.
PM: Time for climate action is ‘long overdue’
Delivering a speech in Bangalore, the PM highlighted tackling climate change as one of the key ways to strengthen and deepen the relationship between the two countries. ‘By forging business links together, by tackling threats to our security together and by taking on the challenge of climate change together we can raise our relationship to new
heights’, the Mr Cameron said.
The Prime Minister’s speech in Bangalore also focused on the economy and global security. On climate change, he said:
‘Fail to act now and we are looking down the barrel of catastrophic floods, intense heat waves and droughts. Physical geography would dictate human geography, climate change exacerbating waves of migration, poverty, and hunger. In fact, nowhere are the risks from climate change more apparent than here in India – with over half a billion people on the Ganges Plain and much more of your agriculture dependent on water from the Himalayas and a reliable monsoon
So the time for decisive action is long overdue.
The UK has already reduced carbon emissions by more than 20 percent from 1990 levels. And our new government has been taking radical steps to de-carbonise and build a greener economy.
But unilateral action can only take us so far. Climate change does not respect borders – what is sown in one part of the world is reaped the world over. That’s why we need global action, with all major economies playing their part.
That must start at government level. Getting an international agreement on climate change is now a matter of urgency. I know this poses difficult questions – not least on fairness. It’s only fair that those with the longest history of carbon emissions play the biggest part. But it has to be a global effort.
So as we look towards Cancun, let’s sit down and thrash out what a global agreement on climate change could look like.’
The two-day official visit was described the largest 'in recent memory' and included visits to Bangalore and Delhi. Visit the UK in India website for full coverage of the visit
* The delegation included the following UK government ministers: William Hague, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs; George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer; Vince Cable, Business Minister; Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport; Gregory Barker, Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change and David Willetts, Minister of State for Universities and Science.
Related links
Listen to the PM’s speech (mp3) or read the transcript
UK in India
A stronger, wider, deeper relationship. Prime Minister's op-ed. The Hindu 28 July 2010
PM urges India to invest in UK, Number 10 website 29 July 2010
Foreign Secretary answers questions on UK-India Partnership, Foreign Office website 28 July 2010