COP27: Rich nations must take lead, says India on raising ambitions

The Union Environment Minister made the statement at the “Ministerial High-Level Roundtable on Pre-2030 Ambition”, at the ongoing UN Climate summit in Egypt. Notably, developed countries are seen trying to push developing nations to beef up their climate plans.

At the meeting, India also said, “goalposts are being shifted constantly” while rich nations have “enormously” failed in delivering the much-needed technology and financial resources to ensure low-carbon development.

“The convention (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement both recognise this, but we have not had adequate action,” he said.

Bhupendra Yadav further reiterated the need for developed nations to achieve the “net zero emissions target much before 2030” as their goal to become carbon neutral by 2050 is “not enough at all”. He also said historical cumulative emissions of countries should be used as a measure to identify their responsibility to raise ambitions.

While speaking in the meeting, the minister emphasised that the opportunities for ambition vary across parties. A similar target for developed and developing nations will result in inaction from the developing nations’ end.

India blocked rich nations’ attempts to scale up ambition for all the top 20 countries.

In another attempt, developed nations proposed a discussion on a new plan which aimed at boosting the mitigation and ambition of all the top 20 emitters, including India and China. The plan kept rich nations and developing nations on same pedestal.

The plan was blocked by India in support of other like-minded nations including China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan.

“Unfortunately, with every decade, with every new agreement, with every new scientific report, more and more action is demanded from the developing countries. If goalposts are changed constantly, it will not yield results but only words and promises,” Bhupendra Yadav said.

A key theme at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change or COP27 is a call for rich nations to provide technological and financial assistance to developing and poor countries in fighting climate change. It is worth noting that rich nations are widely responsible for a large share of historical emissions and global warming,

Increasing ambition requires ‘public actions’, says Bhupendra Yadav

Speaking on boosting ambitions, Bhupendra Yadav said doing so would require “public action” which includes public sources of climate finance and technology. Leaving it to market alone won’t yield results.

“Markets do not function well in normal times, but either do not function or function very inequitably in moments of crisis. We see this with the energy crisis in developed countries,” he said.

He called for the need to identify the right sectors for ambition as targeting small farmers in the name of ambition would be a serious mistake.

(With inputs from PTI)