Refraining from fresh commitments to contain global temperature rise, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address at COP-28, offered to host the 33rd edition of the annual summit due in 2028 in India. He said that developed countries ought to be “vacating the carbon space” before 2050, and made a pitch for countries to join India on its “Green Credit initiative” which was a “non-commercial” effort to create a carbon sink. A proposal to host the Conference of the Parties (COP) must be approved by other signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). India had previously hosted the summit in 2002. “A small part of humanity has ruthlessly exploited nature. But the entire humanity is bearing the cost of it, especially the inhabitants of the Global South. The selfishness of a few will lead the world into darkness, not just for themselves but for the entire world,” he said at the high-level segment of the summit that saw leaders and heads of state from several countries make statements on their response to climate change. Though Mr. Modi described the Green Credit scheme as “non-commercial,” a notification by the Environment Ministry last October, outlining the scheme described it as an “innovative market-based mechanism designed to incentivise voluntary environmental actions across diverse sectors, by various stakeholders like individuals, communities, private sector industries, and companies”. The global Green Credit scheme referenced on Friday expects to generate “credits” for plantations on waste or degraded lands and river-catchment areas, to rejuvenate and revive natural ecosystems.
Mr. Modi, who was part of at least three public engagements on his one-day visit, underlined India’s commitments made at Glasgow, in COP-26, of cutting the emissions intensity of India’s GDP by 45% and increasing the share of non-fossil fuels to 50% by 2030, and achieving net zero by 2070. He welcomed the approval of the Loss and Damage Fund by the COP-28 on Thursday, which has so far seen financial commitments worth at least $500 million, as “something that has raised the hopes of all”. In an editorial, The Hindu said that while the L&D fund is finally online, a lot more needs to be done. For instance, the fund’s contents need to be easily accessible to those who need it most, in timely fashion, and in sufficient quantities.
Welcoming the $30-billion Climate Investment Fund announced by COP host UAE on Friday, Mr. Modi said countries must finalise a new target on climate finance. Called the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), this refers to ongoing negotiations on a new climate finance commitment that developed countries must make to developing countries to accelerate the world’s transition away from fossil fuels. The initial goal set in 2009 was to transfer nearly $100 billion a year to developing countries via the Green Climate Fund (GCF). Only a small fraction of this tranche was actually realised. The $100 billion commitment is set to expire in 2025. The UAE’s $30-billion commitment to an investment fund called ALTÉRRA aims to mobilise $250 billion globally by 2030 and be the largest of its kind, geared towards climate investments and transforming emerging markets and developing economies.
From the initial tranche, an unspecified amount has been earmarked for the development of over 6 GW (1 GW is 1,000 MW) of new clean energy capacity in India. This includes establishing 1,200 MW of wind and solar projects that will begin producing clean power by 2025. COP-28 President Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber will chair the fund and Director-General Majid Al Suwaidi will serve as its chief executive officer. Mr. Al Jaber, while facing criticism for his dual role as the CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company while holding the reins of the COP Presidency, has said that he is committed to involving a wide range of entities – governments, private sector, renewable energy companies, oil and gas firms – to be able to deliver a successful outcome at the COP and push the world closer to keeping temperatures from rising beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius.
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