NEW DELHI: UK’s International Development Minister Andrew Mitchell was in India last week for the G20 Development Ministerial meeting which was held in Varanasi on July 12 and 13. The aim of his visit was also to boost UK-India cooperation on climate and technology partnerships.
He stressed that UK’s partnerships and investments were having a multiplier effect in tackling the biggest shared challenges of today – including climate change, poverty and food insecurity.
The G20 Development Ministerial meeting laid the groundwork to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals ahead of the G20 Leader’s Summit in New Delhi in September.
At the meeting, the UK emphasised the need to redouble global efforts to tackle the climate crisis and shocks facing the most vulnerable countries demonstrating the country’s position as a development leader. Mitchell said, “We commend India for putting development and the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable at the heart of its G20 Presidency. The UK is committed to working with G20 partners to tackle the climate crisis and reduce poverty.
New UK programmes announced in India include an investment of £10 million in Avaana Fund, a womenled climate-tech fund which supports innovative businesses to develop solutions to climate change and create jobs for women in sectors such as clean energy, energy storage and agriculture.
An investment of £12 million from the UK Government-supported Neev II fund will go to Nutrifresh, an Agri-Tech start-up enterprise focused on making agriculture more sustainable by growing vegetables in an environmentally friendly way. Minister Mitchell also visited the Chakr Innovation research lab in Delhi, which is developing cutting-edge tech to tackle climate challenges.
