Cabinet approves India's stand at upcoming UN COP 25

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the stand India will take at the UN's upcoming 25th Conference of Parties (COP 25) on climate change commencing next week in Spain.

India will stress upon the need for fulfilling pre-2020 commitments by developed countries and that pre-2020 implementation gaps should not present an additional burden to developing countries in the post-2020 period.

The COP 25 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is scheduled to be held in Madrid, Spain (under the Presidency of Chile) from December 2-13, 2019.

The Indian delegation will be led by Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar.

COP 25 holds significance as countries prepare to move from pre-2020 period under the Kyoto Protocol to post-2020 period under the Paris Agreement.

India's approach will be guided by principles and provisions of UNFCCC and Paris Agreement particularly the principles of Equity and Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capability (CBDR-RC), a ministry official said.

"India's leadership on climate change has been evident and well recognised across the globe. Government of India has been undertaking several initiatives to address climate change concerns under the leadership of the Prime Minister and these initiatives reflect India's commitment and ambition towards climate action," the ministry said in a statement.

It said that India has been ambitious in its actions and has emphasised that developed countries should take lead in undertaking ambitious actions and fulfil their climate finance commitments of mobilising USD 100 billion per annum by 2020 and progressively and substantially scale up their financial support to inform Parties for future action through NDCs.

"India will further stress upon the need for fulfilling pre-2020 commitments by developed countries and that pre-2020 implementation gaps should not present an additional burden to developing countries in the post-2020 period.

"Overall, India looks forward to engaging in negotiations with a constructive and positive outlook and work towards protecting its long-term development interests," it said.

In the recently held Climate Action Summit convened by United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced India's plan on scaling up of renewable energy target to 450 gigawatts and called for responsible action by all on the principles of equity and CBDR-RC.

"India has been leading the world in its pursuit of enhanced solar energy capacity through International Solar Alliance (ISA)," the ministry said.

In addition to ISA, two new initiatives have been launched by India as part of its efforts to mobilize world on climate action - Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, which will serve as a platform to generate and exchange knowledge on different aspects of climate and disaster resilient infrastructure and 'Leadership Group for Industry Transition' launched jointly by India and Sweden, which will provide a platform for government and the private sector in different countries to work together on accelerating low carbon growth and cooperation in the area of technology innovation.