Diplomacy for Conservation or Commercial Gain?

Concern for depleting natural resources and global warming, and the compulsion of meeting the Millennium Development Goals have spotlighted the issues of environment and aid in recent times. Combating climate change globally requires a global coalition comprising multiple actors, from governments to scientists to development consultants to civil society, with diplomats negotiating the instruments to achieve this. Development cooperation, or aid as it is commonly known, is one such instrument that can promote compliance with international agreements, particularly when these are not binding on all countries. This book interrogates the emergence of environment as a priority area of German development aid to India and engages with the methodology underlying it. It seeks to investigate and establish the rationale for such aid, whether it is indeed for the purpose of conservation and protection of environment only, or whether additionally it serves the larger goals of German foreign policy of ensuring the security and prosperity of the Federal Republic of Germany. This book would be useful for all those interested in Indo-German relations, and in issues of aid and environment.