India Expects Concrete Outcomes at COP26: Foreign Secretary

India is expecting concrete outcomes at COP26 on developed countries providing more financing and technology for tackling climate change since the country is well on its way to meeting targets set under the Paris Accord, foreign secretary Harsh Shringla said on Thursday.

“We are well on our way to meeting our NDC (Nationally Determined Contributions) commitments and even doing better than that, ” said Shringla at a media briefing on Narendra Modi’s visit to G20 summit and COP26 meet.

India has been “one of the best performers” in G20 as far as meeting the commitments of COP26 is concerned, said Shringla.

In addition to commitments under the Paris Accord, India has made unilateral announcements that set much higher benchmarks, he added.

The NDCs are long-term goals and they embody efforts by each country to cut greehouse gas emissions. Shringla said, “We are looking forward to a COP26 that would bring forth fair and objective discussions and a balanced outcome.”

With developed countries announcing this week that they will miss by three years their promise of $100 billion a year as funding to developing countries to manage the climate crisis, Shringla said India wants clearly defined commitments in this regard.

The means of delivering “green financing and green technology” is key to enabling developing countries to meet their climate action commitments, he added.