India calls out developed countries over stalled progress on climate issues at COP29

New Delhi: At the ongoing 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) climate conference in Azerbaijan's capital Baku, India expressed dissatisfaction with the insistence of developed countries to expand the scope of the Mitigation Ambition and Implementation Work Programme (MWP) from what was agreed upon in the past.

This follows India's call for grant-based long-term climate finance in the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG). India, on behalf of like-minded developing countries (LMDCs), on Thursday said that developed countries need to commit to provide and mobilise at least $1.3 trillion every year in NCQG till 2030 and climate finance cannot be changed into an investment goal when it is a unidirectional provision and mobilization goal from the developed to the developing countries.

At present, $5-6.8 trillion worth of climate finance until 2030 is being mooted by developing nations at Baku.

"We have seen no progress in matters that are critical for developing countries. Our part of the world is facing some of the worst impacts of climate change, with far lower capacity to recover from those impacts or to adapt to the changes to the climatic system for which we are not responsible,” India said, delivering a statement in the closing plenary of the Subsidiary Bodies on the 'Agenda on Sharm el-Sheikh Mitigation Ambition and Implementation Work Programme (MWP) at the COP29 on Saturday.

India made its statement, reacting to the interventions by developed countries, asking for including mitigation paras from Global Stocktake at the Dubai accord or COP28 into the MWP.

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The Mitigation Work Programme (MWP)—created at the COP27 in Sharm-el-Sheikh in 2022—is a mechanism set up by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to help the parties or countries scale up their mitigation targets and implementation to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Disagreement over Mitigation Work Programme

MWP consultations have been tense, with poorer countries saying that it was meant to help nations share ideas, experiences, and solutions for cutting emissions. They argue that the MWP was not supposed to create new targets or force any country to take specific actions.

On the other hand, developed economies want the MWP to push for stronger, more immediate action from all countries.

“A combination of interests, political economy, and pressing issues drives a country's engagement in specific matters. Therefore, providing a simple answer to what compels a developed country to invest in mitigation projects abroad is not easy. The climate change needs of developing countries amount to trillions of pounds annually, far exceeding the earlier target of $100 billion by 2025,” Vaibhav Pratap Singh, executive director of Climate & Sustainability Initiative (CSI), told Mint. “While climate change generates public discussion, its impacts are felt in developed nations as well. This makes it a vital political issue that needs urgent attention. Developing countries can engage with global financiers to create opportunities for local investments. For instance, India's experience with significant foreign investment in its solar energy sector can serve as a model.”

India has aligned its stance with the views expressed by LMDCs, the Arab Group and the African Group of Negotiators (AGN). India expressed serious concern about the progress the COP29 made during the week, according to the statement.

"We notice a tendency to ignore the decisions taken in the past - related to the Sharm el-Sheikh mitigation ambition and implementation work programme at COP27 and the context of the Global Stocktake in the Paris Agreement, where it informs the parties for undertaking climate actions," the statement further read.

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A key component of the climate negotiations, MWP focuses on the role of developed countries in leading emission cuts. India reiterated that it was established with a mandate to operate through focused exchanges of views, information and ideas.

It stressed that MWP's outcomes will be non-prescriptive, non-punitive, facilitative, respectful of national sovereignty and national circumstances, and will consider the nationally determined nature of the country’s contributions and will not impose new targets or goals.

Expressing frustration on the unwillingness to engage on this issue by the developed countries during the past week, India said, "If there are no means of implementation, there can be no climate action. How can we discuss climate action, when it is being made impossible for us to act, even as our challenges in dealing with the impacts of climate change are increasing?"

India asserted that those with the highest capacity to take climate action have continuously shifted goalposts, delayed climate action, and consumed a highly disproportionate share of the global carbon budget.

"We now have to meet our developmental needs in a situation of increasingly depleting carbon budget and increasing impacts of climate change. We are being asked to increase mitigation ambition by those who have shown no such ambition, either in their own mitigation ambition and implementation, nor in providing the means of implementation," The lead negotiator said.

India continued to be vocal about climate finance arrangements, primarily from the developed countries that are huge carbon emitters. Climate finance typically refers to any financing that seeks to support mitigation and adaptation actions that will address climate change.

Panchamrit pledge

India committed to an ambitious five-part "Panchamrit" pledge at COP26 in 2021. They included reaching 500 GW of non-fossil electricity capacity, generating half of all energy requirements from renewables, and reducing emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030.

India also aims to reduce the emissions intensity of GDP by 45% and commits to net-zero emissions by 2070. Green energy for climate mitigation is not just a focus area for India, but globally it has gained momentum.

Also read | More broad-based investment needed to deal with climate change: Nicholas Stern

COP29, which is termed as ‘finance COP’, is being held in Baku during 11-22 November.

Numerous technical issues are being deliberated upon at Baku. The key issue, however, that the hundreds of negotiators are working upon is the NCQG. This is an estimate of the money that developing countries will collectively need from developed economies to adapt to climate change and shift to renewable sources without compromising on their developmental needs.

The existing estimate, agreed upon in 2009, was to mobilise and deliver $100 billion annually from 2020 to 2025 but was fulfilled only in 2022. The countries in 2021 collectively decided to increase this, come up with a new number, and make it operational by 2025. This is why the Baku conference is expected to deliver on a new number to make it a success.