New Delhi: India, on behalf of BASIC countries, on Tuesday called for continued work on Loss & Damage, and the Global Goal on Adaptation and Climate Finance at the joint opening Plenary of the 56th Session of Subsidiary Bodies at Germany’s Bonn, ahead of the COP27 in November at Egypt’s Sharm-el-Sheikh.
Implementation of the Paris Agreement 2015 is the main theme for such climate negotiations. Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), it is an agreement for combined efforts at reducing emissions to restrict global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial era.
The Paris Agreement had reaffirmed the 2013 Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage (used just as ‘Loss & Damage’ in climate parlance) as the main vehicle under the UNFCCC process to avert, minimise and address loss and damage associated with climate change impacts, including extreme weather events and slow onset events, especially crucial for developing nations.
Led by its Additional Secretary, Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, Richa Sharma, a delegation of 10 officials from India are currently at Bonn for the negotiations, said a ministry official.
“Adaptation finance should be equal to mitigation finance. The developed nations do not want to invest in adaptation because the return on investments is low. But adaptation is a matter of existence for island nations and many developing countries. Going forward, finance for adaptation and Loss & Damage will be very important and India will take this forward,” the official said here.
Asserting that developed nations should deliver on finance, he said: “They will push for operationalising Article 6 but the finance for it has not yet come. Also, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) credits have not been counted yet.”
As it was agreed at last year’s climate change negotiations conference (COP26) at Glasgow that a document, ‘From Glasgow to Sharm-el-Sheikh’, will be prepared, the official said: “We are trying to ensure that these issues are part of this document.”
India also highlighted the importance of intra-generational equity along with inter-generational equity between and within nations.
Asked about the updated NDC – the nationally determined contribution as part of each nation’s actions for combating climate change – the official said: “India would submit the updated NDC under Paris Agreement before the designated time.”
(IANS)
