Developed nations to show leadership in “Climate Mitigation” action as per Paris Agreement

Baku:India called upon developed countries to show leadership in “Climate Mitigation” action as per Paris Agreement and asked them to provide enough carbon space for developing countries for development.

Delivering, India’s National Statement at  CoP29 of UN Climate Change Conference at Baku, Azerbaijan Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh said, “The high Carbon Emission Development Pathways of the Global North in past have left very little carbon space for the Global South. However our growth trajectories for fulfilling the primary needs of sustainable development and poverty eradication cannot be compromised.” 

The Minister asserted, “Despite not contributing to the problem, we in the Global South are bearing the huge financial burden on account of climate actions for mitigation on the one hand, and losses and damages caused by climate change on the other, thus severely limiting our capacity to meet our developmental needs”.

He also called out some of the developed countries that have resorted to “unilateral measures”  saying these steps are making climate actions more difficult for the Global South. 

“Raising of climate ambitions to align with Paris Temperature Goals has to be preceded by free availability of green technologies, producing them on scale and availability of finance for their deployment, particularly in the Global South” he said.

Kirti Singh Vardhan said , “The emergent situation we are in, there is no option but to break all barriers to flow of technology, finances and capacity to the Global South”.

Quoting the theme of this CoP – ‘enabling actions and enhanced ambition’ the Minister said, ” CoP29 is the CoP for Climate Finance – the New Collective Quantified Goals (NCQG) on Climate Finance for mobilizing climate finance for meeting the needs and priorities of Developing countries.”

Calling  COP 29  as “historic”  he  called upon  all Nations to put up a collective fight against Climate Change, under UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement.

 He said, “What we decide here, will enable all of us, particularly those in the Global South, to not only take ambitious mitigation action but also adapt to Climate Change. This CoP is historic in this context”.

Informing the gathering about India’s initiatives towards combating Climate Change, Singh said that the country has achieved the 2015 NDC targets on emission intensity reduction and non fossil based installed electricity generation capacity much earlier than 2030 and have further enhanced its ambition

The Minister talked about how India’s Renewable Energy Capacity has nearly tripled from its 2014 levels and the country is on the course to achieve the 500 GW target by 2030. 

Further, he said, “India has launched the Mission LiFE- Lifestyle for Environment to encourage the sustainable lifestyle practices at the global level. 

Talking about how India is at the forefront of pro-planet actions, Kirti Vardhan Singh stated, “The campaign – ‘Ek Ped Maa ke Naam’ – was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on World Environment Day 2024, wherein one billion saplings have been planted already.