Bhupender Yadav, the minister, stated that rich countries should acknowledge their “historical responsibility” for emissions and protect the interests and the vulnerable to climate change.
Yadav stated that India, the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gasses after China and the United States, is committed to “being part the solution” at the forthcoming United Nations climate summit in Glasgow.
India is one of the few countries that has achieved its goals for reducing the emission of greenhouse gases. A Tuesday U.N.-backed study said India had “significant room” to achieve more ambitious goals. This report was not yet available to the U.N. Climate Agency.
When Rameshwar Prasad Gupta was asked about the possibility of new targets, he said that all options were open to him.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend a Group of 20 summit in Rome this weekend, followed by the summit at Glasgow, also known as COP26.
Yadav stated that India had achieved its climate targets without the promise of financing from wealthy nations. According to a 2019 finance ministry document, the cost of meeting these targets is $2.5 trillion.
India is now the top emitter of greenhouse gasses, but it has contributed just 4% to total emissions since 1850s.
Gupta stated that net zero is not an option, since cumulative emissions are the problem. Gupta said that countries should focus on the amount of carbon being put into the atmosphere to achieve this goal.
He said that developing nations require space and assistance to grow. Without it, they face the choice of either compromising their development or using dirty fuels.
India’s dependence upon coal, which is the second-largest fossil fuel user in the world and has large reserves, will likely continue.
The country’s electricity demand is expected to rise. While the overall share of coal-based energy will continue to fall, Gupta stated that weaning it off coal would have a negative impact on its energy security.
