At COP26 in Glasgow, India set to pitch climate justice and green credits; climate tracker launch in offing

India could raise the concept of ‘climate justice’ at the upcoming Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow and launch its own ‘Climate Tracker’ before the COP, government sources have told News18. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Glasgow for the COP26 on 1 and 2 November. A source said to address climate change, there is first a need for ‘climate justice,’ which involves attitudinal change apart from mere technology. “There is a need at the global level to see things from a holistic view. Climate finance is a big issue which we will raise. Also, developed countries need to start from ‘net negative’ instead of ‘net zero’. India has so far not taken a call on the ‘net zero’ issue,” a source told News18. India is expected to come out with a detailed document on its stand at the COP26 in the form of a booklet. India is also expected to stress at the meeting that it has fulfilled its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). “There is a need to speak first of green credits before carbon credits. The 100 billion-dollar commitment needs to be fulfilled with a clear government-to-government transfer,” the source added. India is also expected to stress that besides dialogue on climate change, there is a need to take action at the global level like India has done by entering an International Solar Alliance with France. “There is a need for actionable forums and innovative actions. Concept of ‘Common But Differentiated Responsibility’ (CBDR) needs to be followed,” the source said. The government in the next couple of days will also launch its own ‘Climate Tracker’, which has been developed by the MS Swaminathan Research Institute Foundation in Chennai and National Institute for Advanced Science Studies, Bengaluru. Government sources said India is not likely to agree to the effort to bring a ‘Methane Pledge’ as the approach should not be sectorial and arm-twisting on such issues is not desirable. A source said the developed nations have been shifting their goal posts while addressing the problem of climate change and right from the Kyoto Protocol to Paris Agreement to Pre-COP26 held this year in Glasgow, nothing substantial has been derived as an outcome of these meetings that can be put into practice to slow the global temperature rise and save the world from an impending apocalypse. “Changing goalposts have always happened on four issues — Temperature, Mitigation, Finance and Responsibility,” the source added.