1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
German coalition collapseDonald TrumpCOP29
ClimateUnited Arab Emirates

France, India, UAE agree on climate cooperation

February 4, 2023

The three countries agreed on a trilateral initiative to embark on energy projects. The initiative aims to take advantage of India's presidency of the G20 and the UAE's hosting of COP28.

https://p.dw.com/p/4N6aj
Masdar City, a carbon neutral building project relying on solar energy and other renewable power sources, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The trilateral initiative focuses on building solar and nuclear energy projects Image: Fraser Hall/robertharding/IMAGO

France, India and the United Arab Emirates on Saturday announced a trilateral initiative to launch energy projects, with a particular focus on solar and nuclear sources.

In a phone call on Saturday, the foreign ministers of the three countries agreed to embark on cooperative projects in the fields of energy, climate change and biodiversity, they announced in a joint statement.

The projects would particularly center around the Indian Ocean region.

The initiative comes while India chairs the G20 group of 20 rich and developing nations, and while the UAE prepares to host the COP28 climate summit later this year.

What do we know about the initiative?

The three countries will work on implementing specific, achievable projects on clean energy, the environment and biodiversity, they said in the joint statement. The initiative also aims to expand cooperation in the field of sustainable projects.

In addition, the three countries said they would strive to align their economic, technological and social policies more closely, as per the goals of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

Separately, France, India and the UAE also agreed to increase military cooperation, as well as cooperation in the field of combating diseases and pandemics and joining forces in the field of vaccination, they said.

The three countries called the "roadmap" announced on Saturday the next step continuing from talks that first began in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. 

Since Russia launched its war on Ukraine nearly a year ago, European countries began searching for alternative energy sources to replace Russian oil and gas. Reaching out to oil-rich Arab Gulf countries has been a common strategy.

rmt/msh (AP, Reuters)