NEW DELHI: Amid the continuing debate on how much emission countries need to cut to hit the Paris Agreement goal, the Economic Survey on Friday pointed out the unfulfilled promises of rich nations on climate finance and said the “shortfall” may lead to a “reworking” of climate targets.
The statement indicated that developing nations may not opt for ambitious mitigation (emission reduction) goals during the current round of submitting climate action plans – called Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – ahead of the UN climate conference (COP30) in November.
The survey, tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, prefers an adaptation route to fight the challenge of climate change, saying India should “focus a lot more than it has so far on adaptation than on emission mitigation”.
Without undermining the importance of mitigation, it said that while India is committed to pursuing low-carbon growth, a strong adaptation strategy is key.
Noting that India was the seventh most vulnerable country to climate change in 2019, the survey advocates for taking several adaptation measures in the country. These include developing climate-resilient seeds, building resilience in urban areas, deploying sophisticated early warning systems, planting/sustaining mangroves in coastal regions, building sea walls and artificial reefs, and water management.
Taking on the rich nations for their failure to fulfil their promises on climate finance, the survey says the flow of international finance has remained grossly inadequate and the “outcomes from the recent COP29 (in Baku, Azerbaijan) hold little promise on that account”.
“With the developed countries also falling short of their NDCs by about 38%, their actions do not reflect the historical responsibility or the leadership in meeting their obligations. The lack of commitment and insufficient delivery of the means of implementation, as mandated in the Paris Agreement, will make the low-carbon transition in developing countries more challenging,” it says.