NEW DELHI: One day before the virtual speech scheduled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to global climate action summitIndia said on Friday that the country, which is among the historically low contributors of carbon dioxide emissions, is not responsible for climate change but, as a responsible nation, has joined others in addressing the problem.
The summit is jointly organized by United Nations with the UK and France on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement, which was adopted by 195 countries on December 12, 2015. Few countries are expected to announce their carbon neutrality plan by committing to net zero emissions deadlines during the event. . The Paris Agreement will enter into operation as of January 1, 2021.
“We are in no way responsible for climate change. But being a responsible nation, we have joined with others to solve the problem, ”said Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, noting that India contributed only 3% of global historical emissions, while the United States contributed up to with 25%, followed by the EU (22%) and China (13%).
Underlining the country’s best track record, the minister pointed to recent independent evaluation reports showing that India is the only G20 nation that will meet its Paris Agreement commitment and is among the few countries whose goal is to meet 2 ° C.
The minister also highlighted that India was among the top 10 performing countries in the climate change performance index in 2020, while major polluters such as China and the US were well below the list.
The minister’s comments came at a time when global communities are looking to India for the announcement of its revised commitments with some indication of the timeline to be carbon neutral as recently indicated by the EU, China, Korea. from the South and Japan.
Although India has no such plan on the table, the country has been encouraging its private sector to opt for carbon neutrality by switching to renewable energy and embracing operational efficiency.
Referring to this approach his ministry took by bringing industries on a platform like the ‘India CEO Forum on Climate Change’ for this purpose, Javadekar highlighted the announcement of certain industries such as Reliance Industries, JSW Group, Tech Mahindra, Dalmia Cement, ITC and Tata Motors for their carbon neutrality plan, gradual emission reduction and promotion of renewable energies.
“In the context of growing ambition, nations must move from discussions about how the Agreement works, to how they will fully implement it in their countries and how the most vulnerable countries will be supported in this in the long term. The result should be a balanced package, the kind of balance that was achieved in Paris, that also allows action by all stakeholders at all levels of society.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said in a statement before the Summit. The UNFCCC is the main treaty of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
He said: “This work must urgently start now to be finalized at COP26, which will take place in Glasgow, Scotland. COP26 must send a clear signal that the transformations necessary to move the world onto a 1.5 degree Celsius trajectory are really underway. ”
The main goal of the Paris Agreement is to keep this century’s global average temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius and push efforts to limit the temperature rise even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius above levels. pre-industrial.
The UNFCCC is also the main treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The ultimate goal of all agreements under the Convention is to stabilize concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a level that prevents dangerous human interference with the climate system, in a time frame that allows ecosystems to adapt naturally and enables sustainable development.
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