{"id":125289,"date":"2026-09-20T11:09:04","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T05:39:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=125289"},"modified":"2026-09-20T14:16:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T08:46:51","slug":"climate-equity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/climate-equity\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate Equity and India\u2019s Climate Action"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Climate Equity Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At an international conference on \u201cThe Future of Environment and Climate Dynamics\u201d, organised by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the Indian PM highlighted the unequal distribution of global carbon emissions.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reaffirming India\u2019s commitment to climate action, his remarks come ahead of COP31, scheduled to be held in Antalya, T\u00fcrkiye.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s position centres on climate equity, <\/span><b>historical responsibility and differentiated obligations<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, while emphasising that development and environmental protection must advance together.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Unequal Carbon Responsibility<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Indian PM questioned the narrative that places disproportionate responsibility for global emissions on developing countries.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>India\u2019s per capita carbon emissions<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are about 2.2 tonnes annually, less than half the global average of 4.7 tonnes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Developed countries<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have per capita emissions roughly six times higher than India\u2019s. For example, per capita emissions of the US (14.2 tonnes) and Russia (14 tonnes) are substantially higher than India\u2019s.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s cumulative contribution to global carbon emissions during 1751\u20132024 is about 3.5%, compared with 23.5% for the US, 15.4% for China, 6.6% for Russia, 5.1% for Germany and 4.3% for the UK.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India argues that developed countries bear greater historical responsibility, having achieved development through extensive fossil-fuel consumption over the past two centuries.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the same time, India maintains that it has not evaded its climate responsibilities and has <\/span><b>implemented its commitments<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> under the Paris Agreement.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>India\u2019s Climate Action<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India is the <\/span><b>only G20 country<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to have fulfilled all its COP21 Paris commitments ahead of schedule, particularly in areas such as non-fossil-fuel capacity, renewable energy and emissions reduction.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s climate <\/span><b>initiatives <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">highlighted at the conference include &#8211;<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Solar energy capacity<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Increased from around 2 GW in 2012 to 160 GW.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>PM-KUSUM<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Around 30 lakh farmers have received solar pumps.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>One Nation One Grid<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: It has helped prevent an estimated 200 million tonnes of carbon emissions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expansion of wind and hydropower.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Promotion of rooftop and decentralised solar power.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Electric vehicles<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Annual sales increased from around 3,000 in 2014 to 25 lakh in the previous year.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Metro rail<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Expanded from less than 250 km across five cities before 2014 to over 1,000 km across 20 cities.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">100% railway electrification.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expansion of inland waterways.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Around 3,000 km of Dedicated Freight Corridors (<\/span><b>DFCs<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), reducing fuel consumption.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India has also promoted international initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance, <\/span><b>Global Biofuel Alliance<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and International <\/span><b>Big Cat Alliance.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Development and Environmental Protection<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The conference emphasised that environmental protection should not be viewed as inherently opposed to economic development.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CJI Surya Kant observed that the judicial question is increasingly shifting from \u201c<\/span><b>conservation versus development<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d to how both can be harmonised and sustained.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He also highlighted the transition from conventional environmental rights to climate-related rights, recognising the environment as central to human well-being.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Union Environment Minister similarly argued that the real choice is not between development and environment, but between sustainable development and unsustainable development.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s conservation efforts also include protection of wildlife and endangered species, with emphasis on tigers, elephants, lions, the Great Indian Bustard and vultures.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>India\u2019s Position Ahead of COP31<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India is expected to continue advocating climate action based on &#8211;<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Equity and climate justice<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Historical responsibility<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Implementation of existing commitments<\/b><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Greater attention to the needs of vulnerable developing countries<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Balancing developmental needs with climate action<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The issue has acquired greater significance as vulnerable countries seek support through mechanisms such as the <\/span><b>Loss and Damage Fund<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (<\/span><b>LDF<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) for climate-induced disasters.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>India\u2019s climate diplomacy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> seeks to reconcile developmental aspirations, climate justice and global environmental responsibility.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Its position stresses that present-day emission obligations must be considered alongside historical emissions, per capita disparities and the developmental needs of poorer countries.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This position simultaneously demonstrates domestic progress in renewable energy, clean mobility, electrification and biodiversity conservation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Source: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/articleshowprint\/134360293.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><b>ToI |<\/b><\/a><b>\u00a0<\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/pm-modi-carbon-emissions-blame-developing-nations-ngt-international-conference-10885272\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><b>IE<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India\u2019s climate action plan stresses climate equity, differentiated obligations and balancing development with environmental protection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":125336,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[10376,60,22,59],"class_list":["post-125289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","tag-climate-equity","tag-mains-articles","tag-upsc-current-affairs","tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125289"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125337,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125289\/revisions\/125337"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}