India unlikely to commit on fossil fuel and methane cut at COP-28 summit

New Delhi: India is unlikely to stand with rich nations on the reduction of fossil fuel use for its energy security and won’t make any commitment to cutting down on methane production to protect the farmers and livestock, sources said here on the eve of the UN Climate Summit in Dubai that will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav on Wednesday said the prime minister would be in Dubai from November 30 to December 1 to attend the World Climate Action Summit – a key side event for COP28 that will continue till December 12.

The principles of “climate justice” and “equity” are likely to be the cornerstones for Indian negotiations at the UN Climate Summit, which will carry out a global stocktaking exercise on emission reduction undertaken by the nations since the Paris Agreement of 2015, even as multiple UN and scientific reports show too little has been achieved so far.

While the Union Environment Ministry remained tight-lipped on India’s strategies, the Ministry of External Affairs had earlier stated that New Delhi would carry forward its G20 agenda for the climate summit for the benefit of the global south. Last week addressing the virtual G-20 meeting, Modi said, “The G-20 has recognized mission LiFE, i.e. Lifestyle for Environment, for a pro-planet approach; called for taking renewable energy three times by 2030; shown commitment towards clean hydrogen; recognized the need to take climate finance from billions to trillions. During the COP-28, concrete steps need to be taken on all these initiatives.”

R R Rashmir, a distinguished fellow at The Energy and Resources Institute, Delhi said global stocktake was an opportunity for the world to realise that setting long-term goals alone would not save the planet.

“The UAE Presidency will have its task cut out to ensure that there are balanced and equitable outcomes. Both short-term as well as long-term interests of all countries are taken into account in the next commitment cycle,” Rashmir, a former lead negotiator on climate change told DH.

The two-week-long 28th Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC 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 – are set to become places where extreme temperatures will persist for nearly half of the year.