The event aimed to facilitate the interaction between corporate and government authorities from Norway and India to undertake efforts to facilitate technology transfer and promote carbon trading amongst two
countries specifically in field of renewable energy.
A Memorandum of Understanding between StatoilHydro and Oil and Natural Gas Co-operation (OGNC) was signed at the same event.
Please read Prime Minister’s speech here:
“Dr. Pachauri, ladies and gentlemen,
I am delighted once again to visit this great nation.
This is my third visit as Prime Minister. On my two previous visits, we discussed the potential and future opportunities in India. Looking at this distinguished audience, I see that the potential has become projects. Those visions for the future have become the realities of today.
Dear friends,
India will continue to grow and prosper.
And the political, social and economic choices India makes will affect every single individual and every country in the world. Therein lies opportunity. And therein lies responsibility.
Because we are facing a fundamental challenge: to develop our economies in a way that addresses the threat of climate change.
The scientific evidence is crystal clear. Our climate is changing, and the changes may occur even more rapidly than previously feared.
It is easy to be paralysed by the overwhelming global threats we face. But we must not lose faith in the human capacity for change. We must keep our faith in our ability for common action.
Climate change is man-made, and it can be resolved by man.
Norway and India are well placed to contribute, both as individual countries and together.
Sustainability is necessary. It is possible. And sustainability can be profitable.
Let me give you one example.
Energy is essential to economic development. My country was fortunate to be able to fuel its growth with hydropower.
Now India’s economy is growing at twice the rate of its energy consumption. India must find ways to keep on fuelling its growth, while keeping its greenhouse gas emissions under control. You are doing important work on renewable energy sources and energy efficiency.
Technology is the key. Today’s seminar will give us examples of renewable energy sources like hydropower, wind power and bio-energy.
Norway has embarked on a major initiative to develop groundbreaking technologies to capture and store CO2 from gas-fired power plants.
For 11 years, CO2 from a gas field off the Norwegian coast has been captured, reinjected into the ground and stored in a geological formation one thousand metres below the seabed. No leakages have occurred. The CO2 has stayed in the reservoir.
We hope that this technology will be put to use in other countries in the near future. They could just as well be applied to coal-fired power plants in India as to gas-fired power plants in Norway.
Norway has developed some of the most environmentally friendly energy technologies in the world. And now Norwegian companies are developing them in cooperation with Indian partners:
SN Power and the Bhilwara Group are constructing a hydropower station in Himachal Pradesh. This will address the problem of power shortages. This project is also certified by the UN as a Clean Development Mechanism project – an excellent example of the opportunities for technology transfer and financing offered by CDMs.
Elkem has been involved in India since 1956, and is one of the world’s leading companies for cleaner production of metals and materials, especially for the solar industry.
Scatec serves as a nucleus for creating new business ideas. They cooperate with the Indian Government and industry on developing solar energy projects.
REC Solar is looking to expand their activity in India.
Today StatoilHydro and ONGC will sign an agreement to advance their technical and commercial cooperation on carbon capture and storage and CDM projects in India.
Ladies and gentlemen,
At Bali in December, countries agreed on a process towards a comprehensive climate agreement in Copenhagen by 2009. This is a good point of departure. But much hard work lies before us.
We need an agreement that imposes strict regulations and offers strong incentives.
It must provide for rapid and significant emission reductions. And it must generate decisive action to assist vulnerable developing countries in adapting to the impacts of climate change.
This means massive investment in technology, along with a significant increase in financial assistance from richer countries.
The Clean Development Mechanism is an instrument for transfer of cleaner technology and financial resources to developing countries. 900 projects have been accepted, and another 2000 are in the pipeline.
The Clean Development Mechanism has the potential of providing billions of tons of emission reductions in developing countries. Norway welcomes the opportunities offered by India as an important supplier of CDM projects.
As poor countries face the impacts of climate change, the need for adaptation measures will be great. Rich countries must participate in developing, financing and implementing adaptation measures in the developing world.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Tomorrow I will be travelling to the Himalayas - the water tower of Asia. The accelerated melting of ice and snow poses a serious challenge to the supply of fresh water to untold millions of people.
Science has provided the evidence; science will demonstrate the effects; and science will provide the solutions to climate change.
Here too lies great potential for cooperation between Norwegian and Indian scientists and companies.
This is why we are here today. Innovation is the key to sustainable development.
And the challenges are so many and so complex that success can only come if governments and the private sector unite their efforts.
This year’s business delegation from Norway to the DSDS is the largest ever. I would like to thank Innovation Norway and TERI for their contributions.
I would also like to pay special homage to Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Dr. Pachauri. For many years a close friend of Norway. A champion of the science of climate change. He recently stated that companies that establish a lead in developing climate friendly technologies “will meet with success in both a business and a societal sense”.
As the great Mahatma Gandhi said, “we must be the change we wish to see in the world”.
This is the place to begin.
Thank you”