Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the World Climate Action Summit (WCAS) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), during the 28th Conference of Parties (CoP-28), the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed on November 26.
Mr. Modi will be present from November 30 to December 1 as part of WCAS proceedings. CoP-28 is being held from November 28 to December 12, under the Presidency of the UAE.
At this event, also called the “high-level segment”, world leaders or their representatives are expected to make statements on behalf of their countries outlining their intent and contribution to stemming greenhouse gas emissions. There is no official confirmation yet if the Prime Minister will make a statement.
The Hindu had reported on November 10 regarding Mr. Modi’s likely presence for the global event. The annual climate conference is the most high-profile summit to discuss the challenges posed by climate change and the roles and responsibilities of the world’s governments in addressing it.
India’s targets
In 2021, at the 26th edition of the CoP in Glasgow, Scotland, Mr. Modi had announced five specific targets, titled Panchamrit, as part of India’s climate action plan. These consisted of committing India to be “net zero”, or carbon neutral by 2070; committing at least 500 gigawatt (GW) of energy installations by 2030 to be from non-fossil sources, cut carbon emissions by a billion tonnes, reduce the carbon-intensity of the economy by 45% and meet half of its energy requirements from renewable energy by 2030. Many of these goals are inter-related.
A key feature of the forthcoming CoP summit in Dubai will be the conclusion of the Global Stocktake, a first ever reckoning of the actions taken by each country towards achieving targets set at the CoP in Paris in 2015. This was to take steps to keep the globe’s average temperature from rising below 2 degrees Celsius and “as far as possible” below 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
A spate of recent research reports show that actions collectively promised by countries so far, will see temperatures surge past the 2 degrees Celsius mark.
Climate change was a key priority area of India’s G20 Presidency, the New Delhi Leaders Declaration this September, committed these countries to “tripling” installed renewable energy capacity sources by 2030. “COP28 will provide an opportunity to take forward these successes,” the Ministry of External Affairs added.
During his visit, the Prime Minister will also hold bilateral meetings with other world leaders who will be part of proceedings in Dubai, though these details were not shared.
