India skips key climate change meeting months before UN meeting

India failed to attend 2 day climate meet. Get details here…

Thursday, 29th July 2021

According to officials who cited technical difficulties, India was unable to attend the two-day meeting, which was made up of 51 countries, and discussed key issues related to the Paris climate agreement before the weekend and on Monday.

This meeting is a closed-door ministerial meeting to assess global efforts to address the climate crisis and efforts to limit warming to 1.5 ° C (as part of the Paris climate agreement) prior to the 26th Conference of Nations Nations on Climate Change. November of this year Party held in Glasgow (COP26).

The meeting was convened by the COP26 president-elect, and Alok Sharma and India were invited to meet after the G20 Joint Ministerial Meeting on Energy and Climate last week.

"We participated in the G20 Ministerial Conference and made our position clear. The UK Climate Ministerial Conference followed closely. It took place during the parliamentary meeting, so it was decided that we would not be able to attend this time. At the official level, we hope to participate virtually, but we cannot participate due to various technical problems, "said Gaurav Khare, spokesman for the Ministry of the Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

Regarding the outcome of the ministerial meeting, Sharma's office said: "Climate ministers have taken a step towards a successful COP26 because the constructive meeting in London ended countries working more closely on key issues, such as taking action. to keep the 1.5C target alive and adapt. Financing and finalization of the Paris Rule Book. "The Paris Regulation is basically an implementation guide for the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

According to a note issued by the British government on Monday, Sharma was quoted as saying: "We have made progress in these two days. And there is a clear spirit of cooperation. However, the issues we are discussing are complex. There are still significant differences. We are close. However, we are still not close enough to these crucial issues.

The statement also stated that in the past two days, countries have reached a consensus that COP26 should keep 1.5°C within reach. The ministers participating in the meeting called on all countries to develop a long-term strategy to achieve net-zero before COP26.

The conference will be held in a year when a number of abnormal weather events renew attention to climate change, especially in the Western world. These events include unprecedented floods and deaths in parts of Germany, floods in parts of the United States, and unusual heat waves in parts of North America and Canada.

A key agreement of the meeting was about finances. Sharma has asked developed countries to formulate a plan on how they will provide US$100 billion in international climate financing. The plan has been promised since 2009 but has now been fulfilled. Now, the quantity must be delivered between 2020 and 2025.

India stated in an official statement at the G20 Joint Energy and Climate Ministerial Conference on Saturday that in view of the rapid depletion of space, the goal of reducing emissions to net-zero by the middle of this century proposed by some countries is not enough. Global carbon. It urges G20 countries whose per capita greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are higher than the world average to reduce their levels by 2030.

According to data provided by the World Resources Institute Climate Observation, India’s emissions account for 7.1% of global emissions, with a per capita emissions of about 2.47 Tco2e (tons of carbon dioxide equivalent), while the world average is 6.45 tco2/per capita.

Coalition Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said at the G20 climate ministerial meeting on Friday that the world should not change its goals, which may refer to the application of diplomatic pressure on each country to increase the ambition to achieve the goal. 1.5 degrees Celsius.

"At COP26, India should become the voice of the disadvantaged and the guardian of the conscience of rich countries. By providing stronger climate action, India can reap the mutual benefits of economy and health. But we obviously need to establish clean technology partnerships in industrial processes," said Ulka Kelkar, director of the climate program at the World Resources Institute.

The News Talkie Bureau

Source:

Hindustantimes