Supporting climate action in India

Context

Since 2008, India has been one of the most important partner countries of the International Climate Initiative (IKI).

Guided by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Paris Agreement, and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), IKI supports ambitious climate and biodiversity policies in developing and emerging countries with focus on its priority countries.

To address climate change and meet India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, the Government of India is advancing various climate mitigation and adaptation initiatives. Some initiatives, while not explicitly climate-focused, contribute to mitigation or adaption impacts. These contributions often go unrecognised in India’s broader efforts to meet its NDC goals.

Objective

Climate co-benefits methodologies in the focus areas circular economy, biodiversity and forests contribute to India’s NDC implementation.

Approach

The project serves as the interface for all IKI initiatives in India, fostering synergies and collaboration through:

• Organising the annual IKI Networking Workshop, publishing the IKI Climate Policy Newsletter, managing the IKI India website, and facilitating climate and biodiversity dialogues between India and Germany in the context of the Group of Twenty (G20) and the Indo-German Environmental Forum;
• Developing climate co-benefit methodologies to measure climate impacts of India’s single-use plastics ban, urban forestry, and wetland programmes;
• Promoting public-private partnerships and piloting low-carbon solutions in hard-to-abate sectors such as cement and steel.

Last update: March 2025