As delegates from over 200 countries convene for COP29 starting in Baku today, the world is way behind what is needed to be done to combat climate change. This year's climate talks are happening in the backdrop of 2024 being the hottest year on record, making the last decade the 10 warmest years in the 21^st century! As the two-week long negotiations kick off, a lot is at stake with the planet experiencing record-breaking temperatures year after year, and the adverse effects of climate change being felt by millions of people around the world. COP29 marks three decades of global climate negotiations and is an important precursor to countries submitting their next Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) by February 2025. NDC 3.0, or national climate plans, will detail each country's climate targets through the year 2035. India, home to over a sixth of humanity, and the world's third largest economy and greenhouse gas emitter, is vital to finding a solution to the climate crisis. Along with setting ambitious domestic climate targets, India has emerged as a strong voice for the Global South, and reiterated the urgency of climate finance to help developing countries address climate change. The promise of new finance - expected to be delivered at COP29 as the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance - will be critical for how countries, especially developing countries, ramp up their 2035 targets to drive the deep emissions cuts needed globally this decade.

How is India doing on its climate commitments?

Since the submission of its first NDC at COP21 in Paris, India has consistently raised ambition for its clean energy transition. In 2022, at COP26 in Glasgow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced India's five-pronged goals on climate action, including the target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070. India's updated NDC ramped up targets on clean energy from 40% to 50% of cumulative installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based sources by 2030, and reduction of emissions intensity of its economy from 33-35% to 45% by 2030 from 2005 levels.

As of September 2024, India is well on track for its power capacity target with non-fossil fuel electricity contributing 201.5 GW out of 452.7 GW, nearly 44.5% of total capacity. Another notable aspect of India's updated NDC is the focus on sustainable lifestyles to combat climate change through the initiative Mission LiFE - Lifestyle for the Environment. In March 2024, the United Nations Environment Assembly adopted a resolution - championed by India and inspired by Mission LiFE - on promoting sustainable lifestyles noting that successful national initiatives can serve as a model to be replicated.

Decarbonization of the Indian economy has also been a growing focus, particularly with the launch of the National Green Hydrogen Mission that aims to accelerate the deployment of green hydrogen a clean energy source and to produce 5 million metric tons of green hydrogen by 2030. This year, the Indian government kicked off pilot projects for the first multi-purpose green hydrogen plant and to demonstrate the application of green hydrogen in the steel sector. Other initiatives taken by the Indian government to improve energy access and energy efficiency in the economy include: a national solar rooftop policy, the first of its kind India Cooling Action Plan, policies to support large-scale adoption of zero-emission vehicles, and a domestic voluntary carbon market scheme. In addition to its domestic actions, India has also led on various international initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, Global Biofuels Alliance, Mission LiFE, as well as take on the presidency of major international forums - G20 and the Clean Energy Ministerial in 2023 - to build support for collective climate action.

What are the key issues at COP29 from India's perspective?

The time for talking is over; the world needs to act now.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks at the Climate Action Summit, 23 September 2019, New York.

Bridging the finance gap

A continuing challenge for India's progress towards its climate commitments and low-carbon development remains availability and access to affordable finance. Recent estimates suggest that India requires financing of approximately USD 2.5 trillion to meet its existing NDC targets till 2030, and nearly USD 673 billion in adaptation financing till 2030. COP29 is expected to deliver the NCQG on climate finance, and India is pushing for raising the ambition of the new climate finance goal to at least USD 1 trillion per year. India argues it has achieved its climate commitments primarily through domestic sources and there is a greater need for developed countries to provide finance and technology to support developing countries' climate action. Our recent blog dives deeper into the key issues and India's position during the ongoing negotiations on the NCQG on climate finance.

Raising ambition on climate mitigation targets

To keep the most devastating impacts of climate change at bay, all countries need to raise their mitigation ambition and increase implementation over the next decade. The next round of NDCs is due in February 2025 and countries are expected to rachet up their targets through to the year 2035. Currently NDCs encompass both mitigation and adaptation measures. However, an ongoing negotiation issue is whether there should be sectoral targets within the next NDC commitments, or if it should be economy-wide measures to reduce emissions. At COP28 in Dubai, countries delivered the First Global Stocktake, which included global targets for tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling the rate of energy efficiency by 2030. However, countries cumulative ambitions are current not in line with the goal of tripling renewable capacity this decade and most countries need to accelerate implementation to achieve stated ambitions. At COP29, different negotiation tracks on reducing greenhouse emissions, such as the Mitigation Work Programme, will be important to provide clarity on raising mitigation ambition and lay the groundwork for increased implementation through the next decade. The negotiations on Article 6 of Paris Agreement to set the rules for international carbon markets would also be important from India's perspective as it would provide guidance on how countries can trade carbon credits towards achieving its climate goals.

Investing in adaptation and funding for loss and damage

The Paris Agreement laid down the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) to enhance the world's adaptive capacity, strength resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change. The negotiations for the GGA are ongoing and expected to conclude by COP30 in Belem in 2025. A key concern on adaptation within the NCQG ad-hoc working group meetings has been that the new finance goal should put mitigation and adaptation financing at par with each other. Developing countries, including India, have also called for loss and damage funding to be included within the NCQG along with mitigation and adaptation finance. However, the issue has not received favor from the developed countries and will be one of the sticking points during negotiations.

A Voice for the Global South

COP29 is taking place under the shadow of another United States withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. The U.S. is responsible for the largest share of historical emissions and is looked upon to contribute its fair share towards financing climate action in the developing world. However, with the looming retreat of the U.S. from multilateral climate negotiations, the rest of the developed countries will need to step up and deliver an ambitious NCQG on climate finance. The success of the Baku climate talks in delivering a new global climate finance target will determine the trajectory of climate action in the developing world. India strongly advocates for the common concerns of the Global South - balancing low-carbon development while managing the worst impacts of climate change - and the next few years provide an opportunity for India to lead by example on the clean energy transition and climate-resilient development. This would align with its proposal to host COP33 in 2028 and demonstrate its climate commitments through the next decade.

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