UK envoy Alex Ellis asserts India's leadership role in addressing climate change

British High Commissioner Alex Ellis has lauded India's initiatives on climate change, with the international solar alliance, LiFE initiatives, Green Credits Initiative and both India and the UK working together on the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI). Speaking to WION's diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal, Ellis said, "India is going to be leading the way, not just in India that really matters but also in other countries and we're partnering together".

He pointed to the British government's focus on the climate issue and how "Prime Minister Sunak came with some new money at the COP " to deal with the challenge of climate finance.

On India and UK ties, he emphasised that the focus is on a "very deep, broad future-looking relationship" even as both sides work together on the free trade agreement. On the issue of Khalistani extremism and attack on Indian mission, he highlighted how there is a shared will on that issue by the two sides.

Sidhant Sibal: The world is dealing with the climate crisis. What was the key focus for the British PM at the COP summit in Dubai? UK's focus during this year's COP28 summit in Dubai?

Alex Ellis: You are right to use the word crisis. The truth is that the increase in temperatures across the worldis dangerously high and the consequences of that every day forever even in the extreme weather events which India is witnessing, including Chennai very sadly over the last week or so, is a crisis. The UK's response is part of the global response. We have halved our emissions as we grow our economy since the 1990s. We are putting a lot more money into how we are going to address the crisis, not just in terms of how we reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also how we are going to deal with the consequences of climate change which are already felt in India and across the world. That's why Prime Minister Sunak came with some new money at the COP exactly for that. Now, lots of countries are coming to the COP summit, Prime Minister Modi was there as well because this is truly a shared global challenge and we can only do it together.

Sidhant Sibal: The British Prime Minister said that climate politics is at a breaking point. There was a pledge of $2 billion as well, if you can elaborate on that.

Alex Ellis: What he was saying was that we have to bring people with us. The UK has gone a long way and halved our emissions almost, we're on, we have a legally binding target to reduce them by 68% by 2030. That's well on the way to net zero, a remarkable achievement. But we have to bring people with us. You can't just do it from the top down. You've got to bring people along and one of the interesting things I've seen in India is how Prime Minister Modi has made this not just about investment and stuff but also about lifestyle through the Lifestyle for the Environment (LiFE) initiative as part of bringing your population with you to accept the changes which are necessary if we're really going to deal with climate change.

Sidhant Sibal: But the developing countries like India have been saying that the West, the developed countries have not fulfilled their commitments regarding climate finance. What do you have to say about this criticism?

Alex Ellis: The United Kingdom is putting a great deal of money into climate finance. And we're delighted that one of the things which has come out of this COP already in its first week was the agreement on a loss and damage fund to deal with some of the consequences of climate change, particularly in developing countries. So we're putting a lot of money in. In fact, I think there were developed countries on track for the Copenhagen pledge of $100 billion per year of public money. That is just the tip of the iceberg. The truth is that most of the capital is going to come from the private sector. And that's why you need to create initiatives and ideas where the public money could help the private money to come in. That's why we strongly supported India's proposals on changing, for example, the World Bank. The World Bank is more focused on bringing in private capital, it's great and it came out in the G 20. Our own private finance arm of the British government's British International Investment (BII) as well as the development capital programme, putting money into Indian enterprises and trying to attract private capital, because that isn't how you're going to solve this.

Sidhant Sibal: How do you see India's role when it comes to dealing with climate change? Now we know that we have the International Solar Alliance, which has seen an enthusiastic response from many countries and also in Dubai, we saw the Indian Prime Minister launching the green credit initiative, what do you have to say on that?

Alex Ellis: I think it's going to be very important to create the market mechanisms which allow private companies to be able to trade green credits in a way which encourages sustainability. That's what we have in the UK, through our own carbon market. That's what happens to quite a lot of the developed world because, in the end, it's going to be a private enterprise initiative, which is really going to help us to do this within frameworks which are set by the government. Now the big end, of course, is to keep the rising global temperatures to 1.5 degrees on pre-industrial levels. That's a very ambitious aim. It's something we pushed very hard in Glasgow a couple of years ago with Prime Minister Modi with some very big initiatives being announced. It's a big challenge for India, but also a huge opportunity. So I think India is going to be the first major economy that's going to seek to get up to developing country status, PM Modi has been really clear about that ambition, using increasingly green energy and not just powered by fossil fuels, and that's a big ask, you've got to grow a lot. That means consuming more energy. There's no way it is not going to be consuming more energy. But where does that energy come from? So the big initiatives about how we can get more with hydrogen on stream, how we get more renewables on stream, in some cases nuclear, UK signed up to a nuclear alliance with other countries as well. All of these are necessary to power India's growth in a sustainable way.

Sidhant Sibal: How are the UK, and India working together to deal with this crisis? UK is co-chair of the CDRI as well if you can elaborate on that

Alex Ellis: It is one of the main planks of the 2030 roadmap we have between the UK and India signed by the Prime Ministers 18 months ago and that's everything from the research for example in green hydrogen through to business investments. So for example, Shell has brought big renewables companies here. Other companies are putting a lot more money into renewables and sustainability. Through joint programs on things like electric vehicles. I was in the Northeast last weekend talking to the chief ministers of Assam, Nagaland and Meghalaya exactly about how we could do more sustainable transport in the future. So it's a combination of that government intervention, it is a combination of some funding as well to get to the research areas, and also just allowing very talented people to thrive, also through other kinds of stimulus. So we just had one of the winners of Prince William, the Prince of Wales, Earthshot Prize was a fantastic company called S4S Technologies, an Indian company which has really innovative solutions about how you reduce food waste. So this was almost every aspect of our work. And we do it also internationally. You're absolutely right to mention the CDRI. There's also an International Solar Alliance as well. UK and India work together in other countries to try and help them, for example, to create more Disaster Resilient infrastructure, India has fantastic experience in this and to try to get more rollout of solar across the world as well. So India is going to be leading the way, not just in India that really matters but also in other countries and we're partnering together with them to try and make that work.

Sidhant Sibal: At the COP summit in Dubai, we saw PM Modi pitching India to host the COP33 summit in India. How do you see this announcement?

Alex Ellis: It is an exciting announcement. Of course, it's for the process to deliver the outcomes for the final decision, but what I would observe is, firstly, India's global ambition, which was evident in the G 20presidency, the ambition with Prime Minister Modi shown at Glasgow when he announced an enormous increase in renewables, other reduction in energy intensity, that is a message which you want to get out across the world. So it's very welcomed that India's bid for that and we'll see what comes out of it but it's very exciting.

Sidhant Sibal: You just mentioned how India and the UK are working together when it comes to dealing with climate change. Are you looking at some third-country, both countries working together for a third-country initiative?

Alex Ellis:We do that in some areas, for example on infrastructure for small island states. So we have a creating facility around that. We'd like to see if we can create, get some of India's very effective frugal innovation, and work with some other countries across the world. So India has a lot to show the world. We have already shown by COVIDSHIELD vaccine, with British technology, Indian manufacturing might be projected to some of India's neighbours for example, and that was originally British research and technology which got turned into something of benefit to the world. So that's a nice model to try and think about how you can apply it elsewhere.

Sidhant Sibal: So now moving from climate to the bilateral aspect of the relationship, how do you characterize this relationship? We saw the visit of the Indian External Affairs Minister to your country and he met the new foreign secretary as well on a very interesting day. So if you can talk about this relationship

Alex Ellis: You are quite right, Minister Jaishankar met the Home Secretary James Cleverly in his last meeting as Foreign Secretary and his first meeting as home secretary and was the first person from outside the UK whom new Foreign Secretary James Cameron met as well. So in the end it was a very auspicious timing. The UK, India partnership is a forward-looking one, it's very broad, we are dealing with climate, we're dealing with the living bridge increasingly on defence and security, trade and investment as well as the negotiations on the FTA, Research and Development, Health, sustainability and we had to look forward. You know, we have in the past that, we have had its consequences, be one of the good consequences has been an extraordinary number of people from India, from the subcontinent going to the UK and thriving. You have to keep looking forward, what are the challenges of tomorrow. How are we going to promote green investment for example, how are we going to ensure that we have sustainable growth, across the world, how we're going to keep the Indo-Pacific safe and secure, these are big, big challenges. The focus of the world. evermore going to move towards India, towards the Indo-Pacific and that's of interest to us as well. We want a free, sustainable. open Indo-Pacific that is in India's interest as well.

Sidhant Sibal: Any update on UK, India FTA talks, and rumours that the UK PM is to travel to India in January, anything on that?

Alex Ellis: There are always rumours. Let's deal with the fact that we've had a high-level negotiating team here this week in Delhi exactly to see if we can crack the toughest nut in relation to the FTA. This is hard, no doubt about it. What I saw this week with a shared will and I have to give my respect to the Indian side and the really shared will the top of the Indian Government to see if we can make this happen. There are some tough things which we have to get through but I have to say there is a sheer determination to try to do so.

Sidhant Sibal: Anything on PM's visit?

Alex Ellis: Let's deal with the FTA and investment treaty, first.

Sidhant Sibal: My Last question to you, there are certain issues as well. Every substantive relationship has that and in this case, we have seen earlier this year Khalistani extremists indulging in acts of violence and vandalism. What do you have to say about these acts?

Alex Ellis: Any form of extremism, by its definition, this is not something which we accept in the United Kingdom. Where there are expressions of extremism in the United Kingdom. That is a British problem, not just an Indian problem. That's a British problem because we cannot have acts of violence which break the law in our own country. How would you go about tackling that? The sharp end, the police will have to arrest people and they will have done in some cases related to Khalistani extremism. The regulators have powers for example, when you have TV stations which are not really TV stations. Charities which are not really charities, UK charities regulators act in that spirit as well. You have cooperation between the two governments and have a better understanding of what's the problem because, by definition, it's a cross-border issue, as well. And finally, you have to do the prevent work. In other words, to make clear that this is not acceptable and the Sikh community in the United Kingdom for example, thrives and does very well but we don't want any community to stir by acts of extremism. So you need the cooperation and you also sometimes need a firmer approach and that's what we've taken, as well as of course, making sure there's proper protection of the buildings and most importantly, the people of the Indian High Commission. That's why the police, it is a judgment for them. They have increased presence outside the High Commissioner. We're talking to the Indian Government in more longer term, measures to improve physical security as well.

Sidhant Sibal: But have you been able to assuage the concerns of the Indian side, because in the past, we have seen the Indian side very vocal publicly about these issues..

Alex Ellis: That is for the Indian government to say rather than for me, but what I think is we have a constant dialogue and we recognize our issues in the UK. That's why our security minister was out here in August actually announcing more money and effort into understanding the problem and being able to address it in the United Kingdom. So I hope that we can, there's so much good and what we need to do, and I've talked about many of those things, whether it's on the free trade agreement, whether it's on investments, both ways where there's sustainability, and we should not be diverted from our course of a very deep, broad future looking relationship.

Sidhant Sibal: Well thank you so much for speaking to WION

Alex Ellis: Thank you for not mentioning cricket.

Sidhant Sibal: I can mention I mean, it has been an important pillar of the relationship.

Alex Ellis: Mainly India winning, but the English test team will be back in January, so we will see how that will go.