Yadav flags inequities in climate talks, says India will meet goals

India's environment minister reaffirmed the country's commitment to climate goals, emphasizing the need for global cooperation and finance amid inequities in climate talks.

Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav on Wednesday reiterated India’s commitment to meet its climate goals, even as he highlighted the prevailing inequity that underlines climate talks.

Yadav flags inequities in climate talks, says India will meet goals

India’s climate action vision is to achieve 500 GW of non-fossil fuel energy capacity by 2030; reduce emissions intensity of GDP by 45% from 2005 levels; achieve net-zero by 2070; advance the National Green Hydrogen Mission and build climate-resilient infrastructure, Yadav said.

“Climate vision must be anchored in realism and powered by ambition and India’s vision is clear,” he added in his address at the silver jubilee edition of the World Sustainable Development Summit organised by The Energy and Resources Institute. He cautioned that this transformation will require a global vision also that includes tripling renewable energy globally; doubling energy efficiency; scaling adaptation finance to match mitigation finance; and reforming multilateral development banks to unlock trillions in climate finance.

“Climate ambition and climate finance must advance together. When financial mechanisms are transparent, predictable, and inclusive, transformation moves from promise to practice,” he said.

Yadav further said that the first Global Stocktake (at COP28 in Dubai in 2023) under the Paris Agreement has made one reality unmistakably clear. “Globally, we are not on the trajectory required to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Emission reductions remain insufficient. Adaptation finance remains inadequate. SDG implementation is uneven. This is not a crisis of science. It is a crisis of scale, speed, and systemic alignment,” he said, adding that transformation must move beyond incremental policy refinement. “It must alter the architecture of energy systems, economic models, consumption patterns, and global governance frameworks.”

Yadav stressed that India has consistently upheld the principles of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities, climate justice, equitable carbon space, and inclusive carbon markets. “These are not negotiating positions—they are foundations of durable cooperation,” he said. Yadav’s comments are significant especially because the US, the largest historical emitter last month withdrew from 66 international organisations and conventions with its most significant exit, from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), likely to deal a crippling blow to global efforts to tackle the climate crisis.

UNFCCC was adopted in 1992 to provide a legal basis for climate talks. All COP meetings happen under its aegis. The Paris Agreement of 2015 was the result of these discussions. Almost 200 countries have ratified the UNFCCC with the US being the first developed country to do so (after its senate approved it). Now with the US withdrawing from the convention, several parties have questioned how justice can be delivered to countries not historically responsible for the crisis.

Bharrat Jagdeo, vice president, Guayana who also addressed the conference said the biggest issue confronting the world right now is the need to raise ambition to achieve the climate goals.

“With the absence of the United States of America at the table and at this time when we have to raise ambition it would be very very difficult for us to achieve the climate goals without US  participation. It would have implications for carbon pricing regimes which are crucial for the development of the climate sector, it would have implications for multilateral regimes that are crucial for sustainability. I speak here of aviation and shipping, meeting regulations and many other sectors that are so crucial without the United States again that would be very difficult so I think the challenge before this gathering here is to find ways where we can move forward even without the US,” Jagdeo said.

Siddharth Sharma, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Tata Trusts said there is an inherent bias in the way narratives are framed.

“When we talk about India being the fourth largest economy, we are told that yes that’s a good thing but it is a function of your population because you are 1.4 billion people but if you look at per capita GDP, you are still at about 2500 US dollars etc and you’re still a lower income country. But when you talk about emissions and when we say that per capita emissions are lower than the world average by almost one half or one third, we’re told no that’s not what matters, what matters is your absolute number,” said Sharma.