Asserting that India has ‘walked the talk’ when it comes to climate action, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called for supporting developing countries with adequate climate financing and technology transfer to enable them to deal with climate change.
As he heads to Dubai to attend the World Climate Action Summit, a high-level segment of the COP28, Modi said, “During our G20 presidency, climate was high on our priority. The New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration includes numerous concrete steps on climate action and sustainable development. I look forward to the COP28 taking forward the consensus on these issues.”
The United Nations ‘Conference of the Parties’ on climate, known as COP28, is being held to discuss ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and effectively combat climate change.
In his departure statement, the Prime Minister said the COP28 will provide an opportunity to review progress made under the Paris Agreement, and chart a path for future course on climate action.
“At the Voice of Global South Summit convened by India, the Global South spoke for the need for climate action based on the principles of equity, climate justice, and common but differentiated responsibilities, as well as a greater focus on adaptation,” Modi said.
The two-week-long meet comes at a time when the world for the first time witnessed a 2 degrees rise in temperature from the pre-industrial level (1850-1900) and nearly 200 cities – more than half of them are in India which are set to become regions where extreme temperatures will persist for nearly half of the year.
“It is important that efforts of the developing world be supported with adequate climate financing and technology transfer. They must have access to equitable carbon and development space to achieve sustainable development,” said Modi.
“Our achievements in different sectors like renewable energy, energy efficiency, afforestation, energy conservation, Mission LiFE are testament to the commitment of our people towards mother earth,” he said.
The prime minister said he was looking forward to joining special events including on climate finance and green credit initiative.
“In keeping with our civilizational ethos, India has always laid emphasis on climate action even as we pursue social and economic development,” Modi said.
The prime minister is scheduled to participate in three other high-level side events as well.
Earlier, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra at a press meeting said that India expects a “clear roadmap” on climate finance at the ongoing COP28 in Dubai.
“Our clear perspective and priority has been that climate finance and also climate technology are a very crucial segment of all the global efforts in addressing this challenge of environmental degradation,” Kwatra said at a media briefing.
“We expect a clear roadmap to be agreed at COP28 on climate finance which would be important for delivering on the new, collective, quantified goals,” he said.
“India has taken a leadership role in shaping the global agenda on climate and environment including through focusing on this issue in two Voice of Global South Summits organised by India,” he said.
“Our approach to climate action is reflected in our principled positions in international negotiations and our global efforts to help the rest of Global South in combating this serious challenge of climate change as also its impact on the development framework of the developing countries,” said the official.