Rich nations must hit net zero and pay up on climate, India says

[MELBOURNE] Richer nations must move faster on zeroing out emissions and do more to mobilise funding to help developing economies meet climate targets, India’s Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav told the COP30 summit in Brazil.

“Developed countries must reach net zero far earlier than current target dates and deliver new, additional, and concessional climate finance at a scale of trillions, not billions,” Yadav said on Monday (Nov 17) at the talks in Belem, according to a statement from the ministry.

India, the world’s third-largest polluter, has long argued that industrialised nations should carry a greater decarbonisation burden, and that still-developing countries require more assistance to simultaneously curb emissions and drive economic growth.

The country, which is targeting net zero by 2070 – two decades later than many major nations, and 10 years later than China – intends to publish a new strategy for emissions reductions to 2035, Yadav said in the statement, without specifying a date.

More than 115 countries have now lodged updated climate plans with the United Nations, required under the terms of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

An initial assessment of the pledges warned they would leave the world far off track to limit global warming this century to 1.5 deg C. BLOOMBERG