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Tripartite Cooperation Between UAE, France & India On Energy & Climate | |
| Sumita Pawar |
According to Emirati state news agency WAM, the UAE, France, and India have established a tripartite cooperation initiative in several areas, including energy and climate change.
A phone call between UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, his French counterpart Catherine Colonna, and their Indian counterpart Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar revealed the trilateral initiative will promote the joint design and execution of projects in various fields, including solar and nuclear energy, combating climate change, and protecting biodiversity, particularly in the Indian Ocean.
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"For this purpose, the three countries will explore the possibility of working with the Indian Ocean Rim Association to pursue concrete, actionable projects on clean energy, the environment, and biodiversity," the statement said.
According to the report, the initiative will also serve as a platform to expand cooperation between the three countries' development agencies on sustainable projects, as well as to organise a variety of trilateral events in conjunction with India's G20 presidency and the UAE's hosting of COP28 this year.
"The three countries agreed to try to make sure that their economic, technological, and social policies are more in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement," the statement said.
The countries also agreed to work together more through projects like the UAE-led Mangrove Alliance for Climate and the India-France-led Indo-Pacific Parks Partnership.
The report further brings to the reader's attention that it was agreed that the three countries should seek to focus on key issues such as single-use plastic pollution, desertification, and food security in the context of the International Year of Millet, 2023.
The three sides also underlined their desire to adopt a circular-economy model under the aegis of India’s Mission LIFE, which aims to bring individual behaviours to the forefront of the global climate-action narrative.
The three countries stressed the need to strengthen defence cooperation and agreed to increase efforts to further promote compatibility, joint development, and co-production, while seeking out avenues for further collaboration and training between their defence forces, as highlighted in the report.
They promised to talk more about new threats, such as infectious diseases and ways to stop pandemics in the future.
"In this regard, cooperation with multilateral organisations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), Gavi—tthe Vaccine Alliance, the Global Fund, and Unitaid will be encouraged," the statement said.
According to the report, they also agreed to cooperate on the implementation of WHO’s "One Health" approach—tto achieve optimal health outcomes that recognise the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment locally, regionally, and globally, and to support the development of local capacities in biomedical innovation and production within developing countries.
"As countries at the forefront of technological innovation, we will encourage the development of trilateral cooperation between relevant academic and research institutions and efforts to promote co-innovation projects, technology transfer, and entrepreneurship," the statement said.
To help with this, trilateral meetings and conferences will be held alongside high-level technology events like Vivatech in Paris, Bengaluru Tech Summit in India, and GITEX in Dubai.
As the report concluded, the UAE, France, and India said they will ensure that the trilateral initiative will be used to promote cultural cooperation through a range of joint projects, including heritage promotion and protection, "in recognition of the critical role social and human bonds play in their constructive partnership."