India to push for flexibility, differentiation in climate negotiations: Minister
Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav met COP 26 President, Alok Sharma on Wednesday following which he said differentiation and flexibility should be at the core of decision-making at COP 26
Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav said India will advocate principles of “differentiation” and operationalisation of “flexibility” provided in the Paris Agreement for developing countries, at the upcoming United Nations Climate Change conference (COP26) in November.
He met COP 26 President, Alok Sharma on Wednesday following which he said differentiation and flexibility should be at the core of decision-making at the session. “India believes that climate actions must be nationally determined and strongly advocates that the differentiation and operationalization of flexibility provided in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement for developing countries should be at the core of decision-making” said Yadav underlining focus on climate justice and equity.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had flagged earlier this month that the planet has a very short window to prevent catastrophic climate change. The 1.5 degree C (°C) global warming threshold is likely to be breached in the next 10 to 20 years by 2040 in all emission scenarios including the one where carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions decline rapidly to net zero around 2050, the IPCC report said in its report “Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis.” The report showed that emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities are responsible for approximately 1.1°C of warming compared to pre-industrial levels, and finds that averaged over the next 20 years, global temperature is expected to reach or exceed 1.5°C warming.
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Sharma in an interview to Hindustan Times on Monday said, “We want every country to set out plans to go to net-zero by the middle of the century.” But India has said earlier that pushing developing countries with extremely low per capita emissions to commit to a net zero goal will undermine their right to develop.
“We have noted the pledges made by some countries to achieve Net Zero GHG emissions or carbon neutrality by or around mid-century. However, this may not be adequate in view of fast depleting available carbon space. Therefore, and keeping in view the legitimate need of developing countries to grow, we urge G20 countries to commit to bringing down per capita emissions to the global average by 2030,” India said in its official statement at the G20 energy and climate joint ministerial meeting.
On Wednesday, Yadav also mentioned about the global initiatives spearheaded by India, like the Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT), Coalition on Coalition Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and International Solar Alliance (ISA).
Yadav said India is always committed to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC) Framework and its Paris Agreement, and will work constructively for a successful and balanced outcome at COP26.
On Tuesday, Sharma had met RK Singh, power and renewable energy minister; PK Mishra, PM Modi’s principal secretary and Piyush Goyal, minister of commerce and industry. “Discussed range of issues including collaboration on renewables, global energy transition & NDCs,” he tweeted.
