(Commonwealth_India) During the high-level ministerial roundtable on pre-2030 ambition at the UN climate talks in Baku, India urged developed nations to take decisive actions to address the climate crisis. The country’s environment secretary, Leena Nandan, emphasized the need for developed countries to remove the barriers that impede the transfer of essential technologies to developing nations. Nandan emphasized the crucial role these innovative technologies play in achieving a low-carbon future, but she also emphasized the need to make them accessible and affordable for the Global South.
In particular, Nandan pointed to the challenges faced by developing countries in accessing clean energy technologies, carbon removal solutions, and other key tools for climate mitigation and adaptation. Intellectual property rights, she explained, often present significant obstacles, making it difficult for poorer nations to gain access to the technologies they need to reduce emissions and build climate-resilient infrastructure. India urged developed countries to demonstrate leadership by making these innovations accessible to all nations, especially those with limited resources.
Nandan’s comments underscored the urgency of addressing the massive climate finance gap that currently hinders effective climate action in the developing world. She emphasized that countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change require trillions of dollars to fund clean energy projects, disaster-resilient infrastructure, and necessary climate adaptation measures. India emphasized that developed nations must meet their financial obligations, guaranteeing that public finance fully covers the costs of climate action, including deviations from least-cost development pathways. Failure to do so, Nandan warned, would place an additional burden on the people of developing nations, undermining their ability to meet their climate goals.
India also raised concerns over what it considers unfair trade measures imposed by developed countries, particularly the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The CBAM aims to impose a carbon tax on imports based on their carbon content, but India argued that such measures unfairly shift the financial responsibility for climate action onto developing nations. Nandan pointed out that these unilateral trade measures not only disrupt international cooperation but also add additional financial strain on industries in poorer countries. India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, had previously criticized CBAM as “unilateral and arbitrary,” warning that such measures could harm India’s industries and upset the balance of international trade.
In its intervention, India also shared its view on the future trajectory of global emissions, noting that there is a potential for global emissions to peak by 2030. The 2024 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) synthesis report projects a 2.6 percent reduction in global emissions in 2030 compared to 2019 levels. India highlighted that this target is achievable, but only if all countries work together, with the support of finance, technology, and capacity-building for developing nations. Without this support, India warned, the world would struggle to meet the climate goals set under the Paris Agreement, which are necessary to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
At the UN climate talks in Baku, India’s message was clear: the world’s richest countries must step up and meet their climate finance commitments, ensure that essential technologies are made accessible to developing nations, and avoid policies that unfairly burden poorer countries with the costs of climate action. India’s appeal reflected a broader call for equity and fairness in addressing the climate crisis, emphasizing the importance of cooperation and solidarity in tackling the urgent challenges posed by climate change.
