COP26 Glasgow Summit of UNFCC- India’s Commitments

Table of Contents

India’s Commitments at COP26 Glasgow- Relevance for UPSC Exam

GS Paper 2: International Relations- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
GS Paper 3: Environment- Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation.

The Prime Minister of India while addressing COP 26 of the UNFCCC summit at Glasgow, Britain, highlighted India’s commitments in the fight against climate change.
Until now, India was the only major emitter that hadn’t committed to a timeline to achieve net-zero or a year by which it would ensure its net carbon dioxide emissions would be zero.

Lack of Financial support by Developed Countries: They have failed to meet their commitment of providing 100 billion dollars each year to developing countries in their fight against climate change.
Poor focus on Adaptation: there hasn’t been as much focus on climate adaptation as on mitigation and this is harming developing countries’ interests.
- Developing countries are the worst victim of climate change and due to a lack of focus on climate change adaptation, their people are suffering the most.
Climate change has resulted in changes in cropping patterns, along with frequent floods.
- To counter this, we need to make agriculture resilient to these shocks.

India’s Target by 2030:
- India will ensure 50% of its energy will be sourced from renewable energy sources.
- India will reduce its carbon emissions by 2030 by a billion tonnes.
- India will also reduce its emissions intensity per unit of GDP by less than 45%.
- India would also install 500 Gigawatt of renewable energy by 2030, a 50 GW increase from its existing targets.
India’s Target by 2070: India will aim to achieve net-zero emissions latest by 2070.
- This is in contrast to India’s run-up to the COP where it had strongly resisted demands by developed countries to take on net-zero targets.
Impact on India: Taking on net-zero targets, requires a sharp shift to clean energy sources that several experts have opined, which will impose a steep cost on India.

On climate Finance: India demanded that rich developed countries must provide at least $1 trillion in climate finance to assist developing countries and those most vulnerable.
- This would ensure a spirit of climate justice on the part of developed countries.
Principles of Equity and Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC) and recognition of the very different national circumstances of countries must be respected.
Adopt Sustainable mod of Living: sustainable modes of living being practiced in certain traditional communities should be made part of school curricula.
- The lessons from India’s efforts at adaptation in programs such as Jal Jeevan mission, Swach Bharat mission and mission ujwala should be popularized globally.