PM Modi likely to skip COP29 in Azerbaijan
India’s delegation is expected to be led by environment and climate change minister Bhupender Yadav.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi may skip the United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP29, to be held in Azerbaijan next month because of scheduling issues, people familiar with the matter said.
The development rules out the possibility of a meeting between the Indian leader and his Pakistani counterpart Shehbaz Sharif, something that Islamabad was keen on following external affairs minister S Jaishankar’s recent visit to the neighbouring country for a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meet.
India’s delegation to COP29, or the Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is expected to be led by environment and climate change minister Bhupender Yadav, four people aware of the matter said on condition of anonymity.
According to a document regarding participation by heads of state or government released by UNFCCC, Chinese President Xi Jinping, US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron are also among the leaders expected to give COP29 a miss.
A total of 106 heads of state or government have so far confirmed they will speak at COP29’s World Leaders Climate Action Summit, the document showed. Israeli Prime Benjamin Netanyahu, too, has not confirmed his participation.
COP meetings have been used by the Indian side for key bilateral meetings. For instance, Modi met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the margins of COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021.
Following Jaishankar’s visit to Islamabad, the Pakistani side had shown interest in a meeting between Modi and Sharif to take forward efforts to try and bring bilateral relations, currently at an all-time low, back to an even keel, the people said.
The UNFCC document listed countries that have nominated their heads of state or government to deliver a national statement in the first part of the high-level segment of COP29 during November 12-13. Other countries will speak through their representatives during November 19-20.
India is slotted to address COP29 either on November 19 or 20, as is the Like Minded Developing Country (LMDC) grouping of developing nations and Uganda, speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.
Modi attended and addressed COP21 in Paris, COP26 in Glasgow and COP28 in Dubai. At Glasgow, he announced the ambitious goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2070, an action plan that included reducing emissions to 50% by 2030, and steps to increase the 2030 carbon intensity goal – measured as carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product – from 35% to 45%.
“It is India’s expectation that the world’s developed nations make $1 trillion available as climate finance as soon as possible,” Modi had said. “Justice would demand that those nations that have not kept their climate commitments should be pressured...climate finance cannot lag climate action.”
In 2023, Modi proposed in Dubai that India host the COP summit in 2028 as he sought to position the country as a global leader in climate action by launching a green credit initiative. He also called for more inclusive policies to help developing countries stave off climate calamities.
Among key issues on the negotiated agenda at COP29 is an agreement on a fair and ambitious New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG) to be set from $100 billion for the post-2025 period.
The World Leaders Climate Action Summit at UN Climate Conferences is the forum for heads of state and government to air their perspective on climate action and articulate national policies on dealing with the crisis. It is also a way to gain political support on the agenda of COP for a successful deal at the end of two weeks, from the point of view of economic and demographic status of countries.
