New Delhi, (Samajweekly) Highlighting that the developed countries have collectively emitted more than their estimated emission allowances in the 2008-2020 period, India on Monday said that these countries, hence, should take greater action on mitigating devastating impacts due to climate change.
In light of the recent IPCC findings and the latest UNFCCC Synthesis Report, the rich nations should provide financial support to developing countries too, India said, taking cudgels on behalf of the developing world, known as global south in terms of climate negotiations.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report last month had sounded ‘code red’ for humanity and warned of stricter emission reductions to restrict the global temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times.
The UNFCCC, the climate change negotiations platform, too brought out a report recently stating the actions towards mitigation are just not enough.
“Even at the UNFCCC, there is a very urgent need for giving due importance to adaptation (by poor countries, enabled by rich nations),” India’s Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav said.
Representing India virtually at the UN Secretary General’s meeting with select leaders on Climate Change — convened by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, he said that it is also time to discuss whether the scale of resources is commensurate with the scale of the needs of developing countries.
It was an apparent reference to the slow-paced $100 billion per year climate finance to be contributed by the developed countries for helping developing countries to tide over climate change related disasters.
Underlining that ambitious climate action in developing countries is dependent on ambitious support from developed countries under the Paris Agreement, Yadav called upon the developed countries to fulfil their promise of the $100 billion per year goal made in 2009.
“COP26 – that is to take place at Glasgow in UK from October 31 – should focus on climate finance in scope, scale and speed and transfer of green technologies at low cost,” he said.
He underlined the need for upholding the principles of UNFCCC process, for any successful outcome in any climate change negotiations, including the upcoming COP26.
