Ahead of COP31 next month, what has India committed to and what does it expect?

COP31 will take place from November 9 to 20, 2026 in Turkiye, with Australia serving as the president of negotiations

India is heading into the UN climate conference in Turkey’s Antalya next month with a strengthened set of climate targets for 2035, but is arguing that COP31 should be less about announcing new promises and more about delivering those already made -- particularly on climate finance, technology transfer and adaptation.

Bhupender Yadav during a meeting with UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed on sidelines of Pre-COP, in Nadi, Fiji. (PTI photo)

On Wednesday, at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC pre-COP31) meeting in Fiji, Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav said the success of the Antalya conference should not be measured by new targets or declarations, but by whether implementation is accelerated, support reaches countries that need it and existing solutions are taken to scale.

“The long-term objectives and goals are already set,” Yadav said, referring to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, including the ambition to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C. He called for greater focus on closing gaps in understanding, fulfilling existing commitments and accelerating implementation.

COP31 will take place from November 9 to 20, 2026 in Turkiye, with Australia serving as the president of negotiations.

Since last year’s COP30 in Brazil in November last year, India’s latest climate commitment has come through the updated Nationally Determined Contribution for 2031-35, approved by the cabinet in March. Under it, the country has committed to reducing the emissions intensity of its GDP by 47% by 2035 from 2005 levels, increasing cumulative installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel sources to 60%, and creating an additional carbon sink of 3.5-4 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent through forest and tree cover, compared with the 2005 baseline.

The NDC also included qualitative targets on sustainable lifestyles, strengthening adaptation capacity and following a cleaner development pathway as India pursues its Viksit Bharat @2047 goal.

India’s earlier 2030 targets included reducing emissions intensity by 45% from 2005 levels and achieving about 50% cumulative installed electricity capacity from non-fossil sources. India crossed the latter milestone in June 2025, five years ahead of schedule. As of June 30, 2026, the non-fossil share had risen to 54.18% of installed electricity capacity. The country’s longer-term commitment remains to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070.

But India’s ask at COP31 is implementation

Yadav’s intervention in Fiji makes clear that India does not see another round of headline targets as the central outcome it wants from COP31. He called for parties to fulfil their existing commitments under the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement “in true letter and spirit”, while ensuring that countries have the means to meet them.

He also called for greater capacity building and for countries to demonstrate concrete examples of high-impact mitigation, large-scale adaptation and effective delivery of climate support.

India has also called for equal attention to mitigation, adaptation and the means of implementation, arguing that there cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach to climate action and that equity and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC) must remain central. CBDR-RC is a core rule in global climate agreements that gives countries different duties to fight climate change based on their wealth and past pollution.

Climate finance remains the biggest fault line

Climate finance is likely to be one of India’s major demands in Antalya. India has repeatedly argued over the past year that the new climate finance goal of mobilising $300 billion annually by 2035 is inadequate for the needs of developing countries, and has backed the Baku-to-Belém roadmap aimed at scaling climate finance towards $1.3 trillion annually for developing countries.

At COP30 last year, Yadav had said adaptation finance in particular needed to increase in both quantity and quality and should be provided through grants rather than debt-creating instruments. India has also argued that developing countries face major barriers in accessing finance, including complex approval procedures, slow disbursement and limited flexibility.

This demand is closely linked to India’s wider position that climate action cannot be separated from development needs. At the Bonn climate talks in June, India said developing countries needed adequate carbon space to eradicate poverty, expand energy access and meet sustainable development goals, while developed countries should take the lead through accelerated emissions reductions.

India also wants technology and capacity support

Technology transfer and capacity building are another recurring part of India’s negotiating position.

At Fiji, Yadav called for greater capacity building and for climate solutions that are already working to be taken to scale. In June, India and Japan adopted rules for implementing their Joint Crediting Mechanism under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement, designed to facilitate investment, technology transfer and capacity building around low-carbon technologies in India.

India’s position is therefore that developing countries should not simply be given emissions targets, but also access to the finance, technology and institutional capacity needed to meet them.

The BRICS position: no CBAM, no one-size-fits-all energy transition

The September BRICS summit in New Delhi added another important layer to India’s COP31 position.

The New Delhi Declaration opposed “unilateral, punitive, discriminatory and protectionist measures” such as carbon border adjustment mechanisms (CBAM) – already in place across the European Union, arguing that such measures could undermine developing countries’ efforts to address climate change and improve adaptation and resilience.

The declaration had also taken a firm position on energy security. It said fossil fuels would continue to play an important role in the global energy mix, particularly for emerging markets and developing economies, while backing “just, orderly, equitable and inclusive” energy transitions and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

So what does India want from COP31?

Taken together, India’s public positions have pointed towards clear expectation from countries around the globe – faster implementation of existing Paris commitments; greater and more accessible climate finance, particularly for adaptation; technology transfer and capacity building; recognition of equity and CBDR-RC; and protection of developing countries from unilateral climate-linked trade measures such as CBAM.