‘COP26 should focus on finance, transfer of tech from developed nations’

Environment Minister Bhupinder Yadav on Wednesday flagged the vulnerability of developing countries including India to crises caused by climate change and stressed that the upcoming 26th UN Conference on Climate Change or COP26 should focus on finance and transfer of technologies from developed nations to mitigate its impact. 

"Developing countries are highly vulnerable to climate change impacts. India's large population is dependent on climate sensitive sectors for their livelihoods,” Yadav said in a virtual address to an event organized by the New Delhi based The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). 

Climate action plans of developing countries were dependent on support from the developed countries under the Paris Agreement, he said adding that "India has repeatedly called upon the developed countries to fulfil their promise of the $ 100 billion per year goal” required by developing countries to adopt environment friendly technologies. 

“In this regard, COP26 should focus on climate finance in scope, scale and speed, along with development and transfer of technologies and capacity-building support," he added. 

He called for "concerted actions” that he said were needed “in terms of cooperation between all countries, especially with the developed countries taking a lead in climate actions through mitigation, adaptation and providing support to the developing countries in terms of climate finance, capacity building and technology transfer.” 

"I am hopeful for a successful and balanced outcome at COP26," he added. 

The minister’s comments come almost two weeks ahead of the UN’s Conference of Parties meeting in Glasgow in the UK. Leaders of about 200 countries are expected to meet between 31 October-12 November to discuss climate action and submit their updated targets. 

Ahead of COP26, India is set to get two visitors in the coming days who could press India to update its voluntary emissions control commitments. 

The new British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is expected in New Delhi soon with her visit expected to focus on climate change, trade and defence related issues, a person familiar aware of the matter development said.  

Also expected in New Delhi is Frans Timmermans, the European Union’s Executive Vice President on Climate Action.  

India is seen as the third-largest emitter of carbon dioxide, behind China, the world’s largest emitter, and the US. A report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in August said limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius or 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels “will be beyond reach” in the next two decades without immediate and large-scale reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Hence the emphasis on getting India to commit to revising its voluntary emissions-control commitments. 

On a visit to India last month, US  presidential envoy for climate John Kerry said India should announce its plans to develop 450 gigawatts of energy from green sources by 2030 as a “nationally determined contribution (NDC)" that will commit New Delhi to stick to the goal.  

The issue of updating NDCs figured in a conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his UK counterpart Boris Johnson earlier this week. A UK readout of the conversation had said that Johnson had “underlined the importance of making concrete progress on climate change ahead of and at the upcoming COP26 Summit.” Johnson had also “expressed his hope that they will commit to a more ambitious Nationally Determined Contribution and to achieving Net Zero emissions,” the UK readout had said.