India and Germany Collaborate on ‘Nationally Determined Contributions - Transport Initiative for Asia (NDC-TIA) Programme’ to Promote Decarbonized Mobility

NITI Aayog and International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) jointly launched Nationally Determined Contributions - Transport Initiative for Asia (NDC-TIA) Programme with its India component on 27 August 2020 in an online kick-off event. 

The NDC Transport Initiative for Asia (NDC-TIA) is a joint programme of a consortium of seven organisations, supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). 

The consortium of implementing partners include the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), the World Resources Institute (WRI), the International Transport Forum (ITF), the Agora Verkehrswende (AGORA), the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) Foundation and the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century e.V. (REN21).

Opening remarks were given by Ms. Corinna Küsel, GIZ Director of the Division South Asia, Mr. Stephan Grabherr, Deputy Ambassador German Embassy and Dr. Karsten Sach, Director General IKI International and European Policy, Climate Policy, BMU. Mr. Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog delivered the keynote address, followed by a special address from Dr. Young Tae Kim, Secretary General, ITF.

During her opening address, Ms. Küsel, Director South Asia at GIZ stated that the project intends to support the development of policies and regulations to promote Electric Vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure uptake and smooth wide-scale adoption of EVs in India. This will require coupling of transport and energy sectors and receiving cross-sectoral expertise from ministries, international development agencies, think tanks as well as public and private organisations. 

The Deputy Ambassador of the German Embassy, Mr. Stephan Grabherr, stated that new and alternative forms of mobility, especially urban mobility, are of utmost importance for Germany and hence, its cooperation with India. He also emphasized that innovative technological developments and behavioural change will be key pillars in reducing emissions from mobility. 

In his keynote address, Mr. Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog acknowledged the support of the BMU and other consortium partners and assured his full support in return. He emphasized that through this project, India will strengthen its transport and GHG modelling capabilities at the national level - paving its way towards cleaner mobility.

Dr. Karsten Sach, Director General at BMU and in charge of International and European Policy, Climate Policy and the International Climate Initiative (IKI), stated that with rapid economic growth and explosive need for transport in India, there is a need to address the challenges of providing improved and decarbonised transport. Projects like NDC-TIA will be essential to find solutions and meet climate goals. 

The remarks were followed by a briefing presentation from the consortium members about the activities and targeted outputs of the project in India. The aim of NDC-TIA, over the next four years, will be to slow the growth of transport emissions and show added benefits related to improvements in traffic congestion and air pollution.

To know more about the NDC-TIA programme and undergoing activities, please visit the Changing Transport website. Kindly also refer to the recording of the kick-off event on NITI Aayog’s YouTube Channel here

For further information, please contact Dr. Indradip Mitra, Dr. Winfried Damm and Mr. S.K. Saha.

 

IN