Reflects govt’s true commitment to Paris Agreement: Congress on India withdrawing bid to host COP33
The opposition party said the decision also called into question the government’s genuine commitment to undertaking more ambitious carbon reduction targets in the short and medium term.
Congress general secretary and former environment minister Jairam Ramesh recalled that on December 1, 2023, the prime minister had grandly announced in Dubai that India would host the annual UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP) in India in late 2028.
“Obviously the aim was to make the global meeting worthwhile in the months before the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, just as Mr Modi did by holding the G20 Summit in New Delhi a few months before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” Ramesh said on X.
Also read | India withdraws bid to host COP33 climate summit in 2028
“Last night, it was unexpectedly announced that India will not host the high-profile 2028 Conference. No reason was given for this sudden decision. However, it reflects the Modi Government’s genuine commitment to the 2015 Paris Agreement, both in text and spirit,” the Congress chief communications said. he said.
Ramesh said this also questions the Modi government’s genuine commitment to undertake more ambitious carbon reduction targets in the short and medium term. He said that by 2028, the seventh assessment report of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) could be published and this could put greater pressure on India, as Chair of the 2028 Conference, to build a new consensus not only for the distant future but would undoubtedly include scaling up of targets.
“By the way, do we remember what the Prime Minister said to a group of children a few years ago about his views on climate change? ‘People have changed, the climate hasn’t changed,’ he said. Strange!” Ramesh said.
India has withdrawn its bid to host the United Nations annual Climate Conference of the Parties (COP33) in 2028, sources said.
In his speech at COP28 held in Dubai in 2023, Prime Minister Modi proposed India as the host country of COP33. Generally, the location of the COP printing is decided two years in advance.
Sources confirmed that the decision to withdraw India’s bid to host COP 33 was officially conveyed to the relevant authorities earlier this week. However, they did not give any specific reason behind the government’s decision.
