India and Sweden hosted the LeadIT Summit, today, on the sidelines of COP27 at Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt. The Leadership for Industry Transition- LeadIT initiative focuses on low carbon transition of the hard to abate industrial sector.
In his opening address, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav emphasised that co-development is the only option to meet the targets that the world has taken for itself and without it, low carbon transition could be delayed by decades. He said, the low carbon transition of the industrial sector will not only contribute towards the reduction in required greenhouse gas emissions.
The Minister said, it has several co-benefits that include increasing resilience to changes in climate, enhanced energy security, innovation, socio-economic development and job creation. He also highlighted that the current phase of LeadIT is set to conclude in 2023 and the next year is the time to reflect on the performance and achievements so far.
The summit concluded with the adoption of the summit statement by the members of LeadIT which re-emphasized the commitment to continue pursuing the low-carbon transition of the industry. The members also committed to providing technical assistance to new members and emerging economies.
The summit was followed by the public launch of the LeadIT Summit Statement 2022 in the India Pavilion at COP27.
Minister for Climate and the Environment of Sweden, Romina Pourmokhtari and the Minister for International Cooperation, Egypt, Raina Al-Mashat also participated in the event.