Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood up at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai on Friday and offered to bring the next big UN climate conference to India in 2028. “India is committed to UN Framework for Climate Change process,” he said. “That is why, from this stage, I propose to host COP33 Summit in India in 2028.”
Modi used the high-level segment to promote the Green Credit Initiative, which is built on the Green Credit Programme that India’s Environment Ministry notified in October. The scheme envisions issuing Green Credits for plantations on waste and degraded lands and in river catchment areas, with the aim of restoring their vitality.
Ecology and economy
India, Modi said, has shown the world how to balance development with conservation. He pointed to a gap between population and emissions. “Despite India being home to 17 per cent of the population of the world, its contribution to Global Carbon Emissions is less than 4 per cent,” he told delegates.
India is also among the few countries on track to meet its Nationally Determined Contributions, the national plans meant to hold warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Modi set a goal of bringing down emissions intensity by 45 per cent by 2030, and said India had committed globally to tripling renewable energy. For alternate fuels, he said, India has decided to give preference to the hydrogen sector.
Asks of rich countries
The prime minister called for a balance between mitigation and adaptation, and said the energy transition worldwide must be “just and inclusive.” He wanted wealthy nations to hand technology to developing countries so they can fight climate change.
He thanked summit participants for their “continuous support of issues like climate justice, Climate Finance and Green Credit.” Modi also recalled that countries had agreed on green development pacts and on the principles of the Lifestyle for the Environment, or LiFE, initiative.
