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New Delhi : The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change on February 11, 2019, signed a letter of Intent establishing the India-Norway Marine Pollution Initiative together with the Norwegian ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In January, 2019, the Indian and Norwegian governments agreed to work more closely on oceans by signing an MoU and establishing the India-Norway Ocean Dialogue during the Norwegian Prime Minister’s visit to India in January. A joint Task Force on Blue Economy with government officials, researchers and experts as well as private sector was established to develop sustainable solutions within strategic areas of the blue economy such as maritime and marine sector in addition to energy sector.
In partnership, Norway and India will share experiences and competence, and collaborate on efforts to develop clean and healthy oceans, sustainable use of ocean resources and growth in the blue economy.
Both the governments launched the first Joint initiative under this new partnership. The India-Norway Marine Pollution Initiative will combat marine pollution, which is one of the fastest growing environmental concerns.
The Joint Initiative was signed formally by Nils Ragnar Kamsvag, Ambassador to India, Embassy of Norway, and Anil Kumar Jain, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Government of India (GOI), according to a PIB release.
Ms. Marianne Hagen, Deputy Minister, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vidar Helgesen, Special Envoy for Oceans, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ratan P Watal, Member Secretary, Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister & Principal Advisor, Niti Aayog, GOI, Dr M Rajeevan, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, GOI, were present at the signing of the joint initiative, according to a PIB release.