• Context of the project
  
• Objectives of the project
  
• Stages
  
• Commitment of sustainability
  

The environmental crisis is considered by many scientists as the greatest threat of the 21st century. The impacts of climate change on the frequency of extreme events, sea level, water availability and food production, to name just a few, could have dramatic consequences for the world economy, for billions of people worldwide, and, by extension, for global peace and security. Climate change and other environmental pressing issues are an undeniable threat, but they also represent a remarkable challenge. The need for mitigation of greenhouse gases, and, more generally, the necessity to resolve the current environmental crisis, can represent a profitable opportunity to make the world a better place, as they call for drastic changes and new solutions in the fields of policy-making, cooperation, business, and technology.

In the field of policy-making, more and more leaders and governments from various countries are taking steps to pave the way towards a low-carbon society. In the European Union, the target has been set to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. In India, a National Action Plan on Climate Change is now in the process of implementation. With the climate conference that will be held in Copenhagen, the year 2009 is expected to close on an international agreement that will determine future global efforts to tackle climate change.

Efforts from governments are gradually converging to encourage international cooperation, business and technology development to focus on more environmental-friendly behaviour and solutions. The targets and programmes that are being adopted open the door to new opportunities for actions and partnerships that will help building a greener economy. And, in the context of the current worldwide economic crisis, the concept of a green economy is in perfect tune with the unanimous call to rethink the way to make business.

In this context, the development of clean technology has a central role to play. Technology development not only appears as the core solution to mitigate pressing environmental issues, but it also offers sound opportunities to build on new business and new partnerships.

Cooperation on clean technology between the European Union and India deserves particular emphasis. The European Union, on one hand, has proven to be a leader of clean technology. India, on the other hand, is in urgent need for clean technologies to improve the well-being of its population while minimising its environmental impacts. The leadership demonstrated by the European Union, the largest economy block, and India, the second most populous country in the world, will be critical for shaping a less carbon intensive, more environmental friendly world society.

The European Union and the Republic of India benefit from a longstanding relationship. The 1994 Co-operation Agreement, which is the current legislative framework for cooperation, emphasises the need for environmental cooperation, and for economic, technical and development cooperation directed towards environmental-friendly and energy-efficient solutions. Additionally, cooperation on clean technology between the European Union and India is expected to be set among the priorities of the Belgian presidency of the European Union, taking over on 1st July 2010.

In this context, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), based in India, and The Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), based in Belgium, are setting up a major initiative to define and encourage opportunities for businesses and research institutions from the European Union to engage with India across a wide portfolio of clean technologies.

More specifically, the EU-India Cleantech initiative will seek the following outcomes:

• Provide insights into the convergence of the European Union’s and India’s environmental and energy concerns.
• Look at the ongoing collaborative efforts between the European Union and India.
• Look at India’s clean technology requirements, emerging business opportunities and the potential for enhanced R&D for addressing energy security and environmental concerns.
• Allow and encourage the sharing of best practices for promoting clean technology.
• Explore new ground for building a partnership based on shared interest in a sustainable future and put the spotlight on some of the key areas where partners from both horizons can benefit from each other’s experiences.
• Help stakeholders position themselves in the new political and economic frameworks made necessary by the climate change challenge, and benefit from the new opportunities of partnerships that are arising.
• Enhance knowledge-sharing and cooperation among industries, research institutes, agencies, public authorities and the civil society.

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The EU-India Cleantech initiative will evolve around three stages, in accordance with its ambition for both concrete and long-term impact on clean technology development and transfer.

In a preparatory stage, taking place from February 2010 to June 2010, key industrial players from both India and the European Union will work together to set up a common Strategy for EU-India cooperation on clean technology. This work process will take the form of two workshops and online discussions between the participating companies and the team of the EU-India Cleantech project.

The project will culminate in the second semester of 2010, with the organisation of the EU-India Business Summit, which, this year, will be focused on clean technology. During the Summit, CEOs will be invited to sign the EU-India Cleantech Declaration, which will be presented to the representatives of the EU and India, and released to the world press.

A follow-up committee will be in charge of reporting on the implementation of the Strategy and the partnerships established during the previous phases of the project.

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Commitment to sustainability

The EU-India initiative has been created with the purpose to accelerate the evolution of the world economy and society towards a cleaner, more sustainable future. In their own essence and their everyday activities, the initiators of the project are at the service of sustainable development in each of its dimensions. As a natural consequence, they are committing to make of this major initiative an example of low-carbon, resource-efficient and socially-responsible project.

More specifically, the organisers of the project will seek to attain the following objectives:

• Reducing travel needs and their environmental impacts. The preparatory phase of the project will be essentially based on online discussions through an ad-hoc website platform and other virtual interactions. This will allow dynamic interactions between the participants, while avoiding the travel requirements usually associated with the conduct of such world-wide projects. For the travel made necessary by the punctual organisation of physical meetings and the 2010 Summit, the strategic location of Brussels has been retained for its convenience and proximity to location of the majority of the invited participants. Finally, all the participants will be encouraged and offered tools and advice to offset the carbon footprint associated with the travel made necessary by their participation in the project.
• Limiting the consumption of resources linked to the conduct of the project. This objective will be met, for instance, by opting for online rather than paper-based communication, and use of recycled paper for printed documentation relative to the project.
• Carefully selecting the venues and partners according to their own commitment to sustainability. The partners hosting the preparatory meetings and the EU-India Cleantech Summit will be requested to offer energy-efficient venues and appliances, and healthy, local, seasonal, vegetarian, organic and fair-traded catering to the greater extent possible.

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