Indo-German Support Project for Climate Action in India

April-June | 2025
Bilateral

Mitigation of Climate Change

Link To Project:   Click Here

Accelerating Indo-German Climate Action: From Youth Engagement and Policy Dialogue to Industry Decarbonization, participation in Global Climate Events and Climate Co-benefits on Plastics and Cement.

Project Updates

IKI India at the C-Summit

At the C-Summit in April 2025, the IKI India was present with a dedicated stall aimed at informing visitors – particularly students and young professionals – about the initiative’s global and national-level activities and to find out more about the student’s perspective on climate change and (potential) Indo-German cooperation on Climate Action. Students were engaged in open dialogue to share their views on climate change and to reflect on how Germany could support the Indian youth in strengthening their engagement in climate action. Key themes that emerged included the need to raise climate awareness, enhance institutional support, and foster stronger international collaboration.

4^th IKI India Community Exchange

The fourth IKI India Community Exchange, held in April 2025, brought together implementing partners from the IKI India projects to share project progress and explore synergies. Updates included the publication of the IKI Annual Report, developments of the IKI IND Website, inputs from the IKI IFP on the Industry Decarbonisation Study Tour and the NDC Conference. The exchange featured contributions from the IKI funded NERAQ project, which presented its community-led Aqua Park cum Visitor Centres in Meghalaya and Manipur; from the IKI funded RECAP4NDC project, which detailed its project progress and steering structure; and from the T-CAP project, which shared insights on community-driven climate risk assessments and the importance of building trust between citizens and government actors.

5^th IKI India Community Exchange

The fifth IKI India Community Exchange in June 2025 highlighted recent developments in the IKI funding landscape, including the to be launched IKI Large Grants instrument. Updates on the IKI India website, as well as details of key events – including this year's IKI Networking Workshop and participation in the NDC Conference – were also shared. The session featured a presentation of key insights from the IKI study tour to Germany on industrial decarbonisation, where Indian public sector enterprises engaged with German institutions on topics such as green steel, lifecycle assessment, and cement innovation. The IKI funded DeepDC project was introduced, aiming to support 1,200+ SMEs across six industrial clusters in India through technical assistance and innovative financial mechanisms for low-carbon transitions.

Participation of the IKI IFP in the Indo-German Joint Working Group (JWG) on Waste Management and Circular Economy

The IKI India Interface Function Project (IKI IFP) participated in the JWG on Waste Management and Circular Economy as part of its ongoing engagement in bilateral policy dialogue between India and Germany. The exchange offered valuable insights into emerging regulatory trends, innovative practices, and collaborative opportunities in advancing circular economy approaches in the plastics and textiles sectors.

Ethiopia India Cement Industry Exchange Workshop

IIT Delhi organized a workshop for the visiting Ethiopian delegation comprising of government and industry stakeholders on 15th April 2025 to share the work on low carbon cement. The visit of Ethiopian delegation was facilitated by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) under its Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT) Initiative. The delegation included 10 members from Ethiopian government and industry. Representatives of MoEFCC and LeadIT Secretariat also participated in the event. The project is collaborating with IIT Delhi for promoting the upscaling of low carbon cement Limestone Calcinated Clay Cement (LC3) in India.

Ms Rajasree Ray, Economic Advisor and Lead of LeadIT Initiative from MoEFCC in her opening remarks highlighted the role of hard-to-abate industries particularly the cement sector in the decarbonization of the economy. Mr. Vaibhav Rathi, Deputy Lead of the Project and Prof. Shashank Bishnoi from IIT Delhi shared on the work of commercial production and use of LC3 cement with identified cement companies and real estate company for upscaling the low carbon cement in India, pilot application of Climate Co-benefits approach in the value chain of commercial scale LC3 and pilots of alternative technologies, and the pilot on solar concentrator in manufacturing of LC3 to further reduce carbon emissions in cement production process.

Participation in Low Carbon Cement Workshop of Rajasthan Pollution Control Board

Mr Vaibhav Rathi, Deputy Lead of the project made a presentation on Low carbon cement production- Policy and Practices, at a workshop organized by Rajasthan Pollution Control Board on 27th May 2025 in Jaipur. He also shared on the work being undertaken with IIT Delhi on upscaling the commercial production and use of LC3 cement towards decarbonization of Indian cement sector.

Meeting with MoEFCC to update the work on low carbon cement

Project team had a meeting with Ms Rajasree Ray, Economic Advisor and lead of Lead IT Initiative at MoEFCC on 22nd April 2024 to appraise her on the on the ongoing work on pilot demonstration project work on LC3 low carbon cement and its climate co-benefits. Mr Vaibhav Rathi, deputy lead and Prof. Shashank Bishnoi shared update on the work and discussed on the possible ways to build synergy in India with LeadIT initiative, launched by India and Sweden (in which Germany is also a member). Ms. Ruchika Drall, Deputy secretary in the Ministry was also present in the discussions.

Value Chain Assessment Study for Single Use Plastics

As part of developing the climate co-benefit methodology for the Single-Use Plastic Ban, the project is conducting a Value Chain Assessment study for Single-Use Plastics, in particular the SUP items banned under the SUP ban announced by the Government of India in 2022. The objective of the study is to collect primary data covering the entire value chain of SUP items and use this data in assessing the climate co-benefits of avoiding the use of SUP. Primary surveys for the same took place in June in the cities of Navi Mumbai, Vengurle, Chennai and Coimbatore.

IKI India Interface Project participated in the IKI Interface Master Workshop 2025 held in June in Berlin

On 25 June 2025, the biennial IKI Master Interface Workshop took place in Berlin and the project lead from the IKI India Interface Project, Dr. Alexander Fisher participated in this workshop. The workshop brought together approximately 45 participants, including representatives from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN), the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE), the Federal Foreign Office (AA), Zukunft – Umwelt – Gesellschaft (ZUG), and from the fourteen Interface Projects (SSVs). It included political inputs from the federal ministries, followed by an open plenary discussion on strategic priorities for the Interface Projects, including current political developments and their implications for the IKI, support for Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) updates, industrial decarbonization, and preparation for COP30.  The workshop also highlighted the key sectors that are central to both Germany’s national climate policy and its international cooperation through the Interface Projects.

In the energy sector, priorities include grid expansion, district heating, and the continued advancement of the broader energy transition. The building sector focuses on decarbonising heating systems and implementing energy-efficient renovations. In industry, efforts are geared toward promoting low-carbon production processes and advancing circular economy approaches. The transport sector was identified as another key area, with emphasis on e-mobility, railway renewal, and improved public transport and cycling infrastructure. Finally, the importance of planning and permitting was underlined, especially the need to streamline and accelerate procedures to support the timely implementation of climate measures.

The workshop placed strong emphasis on the international climate context, with COP30 in Belém identified as a critical milestone. Ten years after the Paris Agreement, the world remains off track for both the 1.5°C and 2°C pathways, and every increment of warming further increases the difficulty and cost of adaptation. Participants stressed that COP30 must send clear and powerful signals to reverse global emissions trends within this decade.

IKI India Interface Project participated in the SB62 sessions held in  June 2025

The sixty-second sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SB 62) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) took place at the World Conference Center Bonn (WCCB) in Bonn, Germany. The IKI India Interface Project participated in the session on ‘Decarbonisation of Industry’, joined by Business, Industry and NGOs.  

Study tour on Decarbonisation of Industry organised in May

The project organised a study tour on ‘Decarbonisation of Industry’ from the 3^rd and 12^th of May 2025, for a delegation of nineteen senior professionals from Indian Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs), leading think tanks (Council on Energy Environment and Water and The Energy Resources Institute), and the Standing Conference of Public Sector Enterprises (SCOPE). The visit aimed to promote knowledge exchange and identify pathways for India’s energy- and emissions-intensive industrial sectors to accelerate decarbonisation pathways. The programme was strategically designed to expose Indian PSEs to Germany’s advanced policy frameworks, cutting-edge green technologies, and to strengthen institutional collaborations supporting industrial decarbonisation in India. For more information about this visit, please read the article on the study tour in the Special Features section of the IKI India website. Click Here

Technical support to the Joint Working Group on Climate, held in June 2025

Meeting of Joint Working Group on Climate between India and Germany was held at Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Bonn, Germany on June 23, 2025, on the sidelines of the Bonn 62 Session.  The IKI India IFP provided technical support for this meeting.