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Bhupender Yadav to attend 2 key meetings in Brasilia, Cape Town this week ahead of COP30
India's environment minister will attend key climate meetings in Brazil and South Africa, focusing on climate strategy and finance ahead of COP30.
Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav will attend the Pre-COP30 meetings in Brasilia during October 13-14, followed by the G20 environment ministers meeting in Cape Town during October 16-17 –– both key forums where India is expected to lay down its climate strategy.
Although it is not part of the official United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) event calendar, the Pre-COP is part of a series of meetings held throughout the year in preparation for the annual climate conference. The ministerial-level gathering will bring together climate negotiators and seek to facilitate consensus on key issues for COP30, held in Belém, Pará, Brazil during November 10-21.
“Pre-COP30 offers an opportunity for countries to collectively reflect on the 10 years of the Paris Agreement’s entry into force, as well as on its challenges and opportunities. The meeting will also address topics such as adaptation, the just energy transition, and a follow-up on the Global Stocktake (GST), as well as key issues for climate action, such as forests and renewable energy,” COP30 Presidency has said.
COP30 is set to take place next month in the midst of geopolitical disruptions. This includes the withdrawal of the United States, the largest historical greenhouse gas emitter, from the Paris Agreement at the start of the year. The European Union, which otherwise takes a lead role in climate negotiations, is yet to submit its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) –– climate action plans created by countries under the Paris Agreement .
Further, recent tariff wars have deepened rifts between countries. Last week, the US announced an additional 100% tariff on imports from China starting November 1, 2025, raising the overall tariffs to 130%.The move came in response to Beijing’s October 9 decision to impose controls on rare earth exports, which are vital for US defence, electric vehicles, and clean-energy industries.
India’s NDC and national adaptation plan (NAP) is expected to be announced in the run up to COP30. The COP30 Presidency had previously expressed its disappointment over the delay by India and EU in announcing their NDCs.
HT had reported on October 8 that India has finalised its first NAP, which is likely to be unveiled ahead of or at COP30, people aware of the matter said. The NAP and an update to India’s NDC for the 2035 period are currently under review and they are expected to be taken up for Cabinet approval very soon, they added.
India would focus on climate finance discussions and expect a strong outcome at COP30, observers said.
This is especially after India and other developing countries were extremely disappointed with the COP29 outcome in Baku. COP29 led to the gavelling of a New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) text which decided to set a goal of at least $300 billion per year by 2035 for developing country parties for climate action, with developed countries “taking the lead” in contributing. The text also decided to launch the “Baku to Belém Roadmap to 1.3T”, aimed at scaling up climate finance to developing countries to $1.3 trillion. Developing countries said it was too little and too late.
One of the issues that developing countries including India are expected to raise at COP30 is Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement.
HT had reported on June 18 that India and several developing countries have expressed disappointment after a key climate finance discussion was excluded from the Bonn Climate Talks agenda, vowing to raise the issue at COP30. The dispute centered on Article 9.1, which mandates that developed countries provide financial resources to assist developing nations with both mitigation and adaptation efforts. The exclusion of this discussion from the agenda led to a 30-hour delay before talks could begin.
The Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) group and the G77 and China had proposed agenda items on both the legal obligation of wealthy countries to provide climate finance and another on unilateral trade measures. However, these were not adopted after the European Union and other developed nations refused to agree.
