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India slammed developed countries for causing the climate crisis during a landmark hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday, saying they exploited the global carbon budget, failed to honour climate-finance promises and are now demanding that developing countries restrict their resource use.
The court is examining what legal obligations countries have to address climate change and the consequences if they fail.
Making submissions on behalf of India, Luther M Rangreji, joint secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said, "If the contribution to degradation is unequal, the responsibility must also be unequal." India said developing nations are the hardest hit by climate change, despite contributing the least to it.
"The developed world, which historically contributed the most, is ironically the best equipped with the technological and economic means to address this challenge," Rangreji said.
He criticised rich countries for enjoying the benefits of fossil fuels while discouraging developing nations from using their own energy resources.
"Countries which have reaped development benefits from exploiting fossil fuels demand developing countries to not utilise the national energy resources available to them," he said.
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India also slammed the lack of action on climate-finance commitments.
"The USD 100 billion pledged at the Copenhagen COP in 2009 by developed country parties and the doubling of the contribution to the Adaptation Fund have not yet been translated into any concrete actions," India noted.
It called the new climate finance package for the Global South agreed at COP29 in Azerbaijan's Baku "too little, too distant" to meet the urgent needs of developing countries.
India stressed the principle of fairness, saying, "If the contribution to global environmental degradation is unequal, the responsibility should also be unequal." India also reaffirmed its commitment to its climate targets under the Paris Agreement, but warned against overburdening its citizens.
"There is a limit on how much we burden our citizens, even when India is pursuing Sustainable Development Goals for one-sixth of humanity," it said.
The hearing is the result of years of campaigning by Pacific island nations and Vanuatu, which led to a UN resolution asking the ICJ for an advisory opinion. Over the next two weeks, 98 countries, including small island nations and large emitters, will present their views.
Though non-binding, the ICJ's opinion could set a moral and legal benchmark in the global fight against climate change.
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