PM Modi to speak at Climate Ambition Summit on December 12

India Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the Climate Ambition Summit virtually on this Saturday (Dec 12), which will be hosted by the United Nations and the United Kingdom to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the assumption of the Paris Agreement.

The Paris Agreement is an international legally binding treaty concerning climate change. The agreement was accepted by 196 parties at the 21st Conference of the Parties in Paris on December 12, 2015 and entered into force on November 4, 2016.

The important virtual summit co-organized by France in partnership with Chile and Italy will provide governments with an opportunity to express their compliance and commitment with the Paris Agreement.

Prior to this conference, India emphasized it was responsible for the commitments made under the Paris Agreement, but most of the developed countries are responsible for historical emissions have not made much progress. The financial commitment of US$ 11 trillion by developed countries to help the world mitigate and adapt to climate change has yet to be fulfilled, Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar said on Friday (Dec 11).

The minister said that climate change has not taken place in a day. It is a result of historic emissions more than a hundred-year period. The United States has 25 per cent of historical emissions, the European Union has 22 per cent, China has 13 per cent and India has only 3 per cent of historical emissions. India has not caused the problem but it will be a part of the solution as a responsible country.

At present, India accounts for only 6.8 per cent of global emissions and its per capita emissions are only 1.9 tons (per capita), while per capita emissions in the United States are 15.5 tons and per capita emissions in China are 8.12 tons.

According to Prakash Javadekar, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by India under the Paris Agreement are in accordance with the 2-degree compliant. The national schemes that will contribute to the achievement of NCDs in India include National Clean Air Programme, National Plan on Climate Change, Namami Gange policy, Swachch Bharat Mission and Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.

India is expected to meet its pre-2020 climate pledge, also known as the Cancun pledge, made in 2010. The Emissions Gap Report 2020 stated on Wednesday (Dec 9) that the country may also achieve or even exceed its nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement.

In 2010, India had pledged to reduce its GDP emission intensity (excluding the agricultural sector) by 20-25 per cent by the year 2020 which the country has achieved. In addition, the country has pledged to reduce the GDP emission intensity by 33-35 per cent by the next ten years.