Cabinet to okay COP26 pitch next week, govt seeks $100 bn climate funding

India to push 450 Gw RE, ask $100 billion climate funding, ask Global North to set up a mechanism for compensating 'loss and damage' caused due to climate change events

India will pivot its climate mitigation plan around 450 Gigawatt (Gw) renewable energy by 2030 and urge the developed world for climate financing in the upcoming global climate conference or COP26 in Glasgow, UK. Officials at the ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) said India’s official proposals at COP26 would be approved by the Union Cabinet in its upcoming meeting, which is slated next week.

Senior officials said the Indian government is not changing its stance for urging the developed world to provide climate financing of $100 billion per year. India will also ask the Global North to set up a mechanism for compensating the ‘loss and damage’ caused due to climate change related events.

“We are asking the developed economies to compensate these areas which are the most vulnerable to climate related impacts and for the expenditure on preventing and managing such mishaps. We will have the support of 24 like-minded developing countries (LMDCs) , especially island nations, on this,” said a senior MoEFCC official.

India will have a 15-member team which will be part of the negotiations at Glasgow, led by chief negotiator Richa Sharma, additional secretary, MoEFCC. This will include representatives from MoEFCC, ministry of power, new and renewable energy, finance, agriculture and earth sciences.

Officials said India is willing to contribute to the fund, if any is set up to compensate for the ‘loss and damage’ caused by extreme climate events. “The ‘polluter pays principle’ should apply here. It should be the historic polluters. But if we are asked to contribute, we will. Our threshold of carbon emissions is anyway low, so we can,” said an official.

According to data collated by the MoEFCC, India’s per capita carbon emissions per year is 1.96 tonne, while for China it is 8.4 tonne, United States 18.6 tonne and European Union 7.16 tonne, against a world average of 6.64 tonne.

There has been pressure on India to update its ‘nationally determined commitments’ (NDCs) which it declared during COP21 in Paris, 2015. However, officials said it is not mandatory over India to do so till 2023. There is still no confirmation if India will revise its NDCs to add retirement of coal and fossil fuels, or declare a Net Zero target.

Net Zero means that there is balance in the carbon emissions versus the emissions saved. Net negative emissions mean saving is more than emitting. China has announced it will achieve Net Zero before 2060 and the UK has kept 2050 as the target. It has also passed a Net Zero emission law.

India faced opposition from the developed world for not declaring any reduction in its coal consumption. Officials said the Indian position will remain the same – “so while we will propose enhanced targets for renewable energy and investment in several new age green fuel technologies, we cannot commit to phasing out coal,” said an official.