COP27 Begins in Egypt: India's Agenda and All You Need to Know

As COP27 inches closer and governments around the world gear up to share their climate goals and talk about climate crisis, here's a look at India's agenda at previous COPs (Conference of Parties on climate change).

As with each COP, India seems to have one particular agenda on the table for this COP as well: Climate finance.

The debate has been going on since the promise for climate finance was first made during COP15 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

India and other developing countries plan to hold the developed world accountable to their promise of paying 100 billion dollars as climate finance at COP 27.

Here’s All You Need to Know About COP 27 and Why Should You Care For It:

India at COP26: Modi Makes an Appearance

The 26th Conference of Parties was attended personally by Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi in Glasgow which he attended right after the G7 Summit in Rome. A quick look at India's initiative during last year's conference:

• India pledges to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070

• Launch of One World, One Solar, One Grid

• Promotion of LiFE-- Lifestyle for Environment

• 'Panchamrit': Five Elixers for Climate

• India and China unlikely allies against the clause for 'phasing out coal'

India at COP25: Mixed Role?

India made some statements that other countries at the conference found to be controversial and questionable. In 2020, the conference was attended by the former Union Minister of Environment, Prakash Javadekar.

A quick recap of India's role during COP25:

• Emphasis on transition of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) credits from Kyoto Protocol to Paris Agreement

• Demanded that Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) could be sold for climate funding

• Questioned the 'credibility' of the UNFCCC's process

• Pushed for developing countries to join the Warsaw International Mechanism of Loss and Damage (WIM)

• Argued for a stocktaking exercise on the fulfillment of pre-2020 commitments

India at COP24: WE CARE

• India stated that the Paris Agreement was non-negotiable

• Stood firm against the dilution of Common But Differentiated Responsibility Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC)

• Urged countries to stand with those who are most vulnerable to climate change to show WE CARE

• Emphasised the importance of the UN scientific report, when it was blocked by US, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Kuwait

India at COP23: Just a Re-Run?

• India's theme at COP23 was 'Conserving now, Preserving Future'

• Aligned with the Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDC)

• Pushed for pre-2020 commitments to be included on the agenda

• Stated that US needs to be held accountable for emissions, in context to former-President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement

• Importance of India's 'traditional knowledge' as 'beacon of light'

India at COP22: Climate Justice

At COP22 former Environment Minister, Anil Yadav advocated for an adherence to the principle of Climate Justice. That world leaders must consider the more vulnerable and poorer communities when deciding the path of climate action. Aside from this major standpoint let's take a look at the rest of India's agenda:

• India and other LMDCs were unhappy with Adhoc Working Group on Paris Agreement (APA)

• India was concerned about the mitigation-centric approach

• Spoke against developed countries not respecting the equity aspect of the Paris Agreement in the APA

India at COP21: Let’s Go Paris Agreement!

COP21 commenced the historic document ratified by 196 parties in Paris, France. A quick glance at India's agenda:

• India was on board with the outcome text of COP21

• India was happy with the concessions made towards developing countries

• However, expected developed countries to take more responsibility

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