Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav
NEW DELHI: Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav, representing India at the G20 environment ministers’ meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, on Thursday urged the group of big and emerging economies to “act as a bridge” between ambition and implementation, ensuring that every nation’s contribution is respected and every nation’s capacity is enhanced to meet the environmental challenges and climate action goals.Delivering India’s national statement at the meeting, he also emphasised on the need to extend financial support by rich nations to developing countries for tackling climate change, saying such support should be treated as a duty rather than a mere promise.Yadav expressed satisfaction that as the Paris Agreement completes 10 years, all countries came together to determine their climate action plans – Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – and work towards implementing them.The meeting ahead of the upcoming UN climate summit (COP30) is seen as an effort to push for an ambitious outcome at Belem, Brazil next month. Many countries, including India, are expected to submit their updated NDCs ahead of COP30. India will also submit national adaptation plan to the UN climate body.India’s first national adaptation plan will be a blueprint for the country’s approach to integrate adaptation into national development plans and policies across economic sectors. The NDC will, on the other hand, specify the country’s greenhouse gas emission reduction target and a goal on increasing footprints of electricity from non-fossil fuel resources by 2035. The present NDC has such plans till 2030.