At COP, India bats for collective fight against climate change

Delivering India’s national statement at the high-level segment of CoP29 on Tuesday, Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Kirti Vardhan Singh said despite not contributing to the emission, Global South is burdened financially to take mitigation measures.

Terming the COP as historic, India called all nations to put up a collective fight against climate change.

“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,” Singh said.

He said free availability of green technologies and finance were essential for raising climate ambitions in the Global South.

“The context of different national circumstances, sustainable development goals and poverty eradication, particularly in respect of the Global South, should not be lost sight of. Despite not contributing to the problem, we in the Global South are bearing huge financial burden on account of climate actions for mitigation on one hand, and losses and damages caused by climate change on the other, thus severely limiting our capacity to meet our developmental needs,” Singh said.

He asserted that India’s resolve and commitment to take ambitious climate actions had not dampened.

Singh said India’s renewable energy capacity had nearly tripled from its 2014 levels and the country was on course to achieve the 500 GW target by 2030.

India called out some of the developed countries that have resorted to unilateral measures making climate actions more difficult for the Global South.

“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,” India’s statement said.