As COP30 opens in Belém, India leads the Global South’s call to turn climate promises into proof — through finance, fairness, and flexibility.
By Pravin Kumar Singh
As the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change gets underway in Belém, Brazil, the mood is cautiously hopeful but politically charged.
The summit — running from November 10 to 21 — marks the tenth anniversary of the Paris Agreement, a defining moment for global climate diplomacy. Appropriately dubbed the Implementation COP, it carries the burden of converting decades of pledges into tangible progress.
In its opening statement, India made a pointed reminder to the world community: the Paris Agreement should not be used to “change the architecture” of that consensus.
The “architecture” in question — the foundational principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC) — remains the bedrock of climate justice. It recognizes that while all countries must act to curb emissions, developed nations bear greater responsibility given their historical contributions and higher capacities.
Equity and Adaptation at the Core
India’s message in Belém is clear: the Parties “must remain committed to and guided by equity.” It has urged the Brazilian COP Presidency to make a special call to all countries to submit their National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) in line with their national priorities and progress.
Adaptation, long overshadowed by the emphasis on mitigation, has re-emerged as a central theme at COP30. Developing countries argue that adaptation is not just a climate imperative but a survival necessity — one that requires finance, technology, and capacity-building.
For India and other members of the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) group — which represents nearly half of humanity, including China, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Egypt — this is a call to restore balance in a lopsided global discourse.
Dwindling Finance and Faltering Promises
If the Paris Agreement embodied hope, the years since have revealed an uncomfortable truth: finance remains the weakest link in climate cooperation. With the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris framework and developed countries agreeing to mobilize only $300 billion annually — far below the $1.3 trillion demanded by developing nations by 2035 — the promise of climate finance has once again fallen short of need and expectation.
This gap has eroded trust. Developing nations see the reduced commitment as a breach of faith, undermining both the equity principle and the spirit of global partnership. India and the LMDC bloc have reiterated that without predictable, non-debt-creating finance, the implementation agenda will remain a hollow exercise.
The Baku-to-Belém Roadmap and Beyond
The Baku-to-Belém Roadmap is now the centrepiece of COP30’s finance negotiations. It aims to scale up climate finance dramatically, but the challenge lies in ensuring transparency, accountability, and accessibility. India has called for a credible pathway that balances ambition with fairness — one that strengthens rather than sidelines the developing world.
Parallel to these financial discussions, the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) framework remains a test case for inclusivity. India has pressed for nationally determined indicators that respect each country’s data sovereignty, flexibility, and local realities instead of imposing rigid global benchmarks.
Where Science Meets Ethics
Brazil’s own proposal for a Global Ethical Stocktake — an effort to blend scientific assessment with moral responsibility — has found resonance with India’s Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment). Both initiatives underscore that climate action must transcend policy mechanics and move into the moral and behavioural domains.
Implementation or Irrelevance
As COP30 unfolds, it is increasingly evident that this is not a summit about making new promises but about delivering on old ones. India’s stand is principled: “We are not here to point fingers, but the facts speak for themselves.” The facts indeed are stark — developed countries remain far from meeting their net-zero pledges and continue to underdeliver on finance and technology transfer.
For the developing world, the path forward hinges on genuine partnership — one where implementation means enabling action, not shifting burdens. The credibility of the global climate process now rests on whether the Belém summit can move beyond the rhetoric of targets and timelines to the reality of delivery.
If COP30 becomes the moment when nations reaffirm the spirit of equity and responsibility that shaped the Paris Agreement, it may yet rescue multilateralism from fatigue and cynicism. But if the focus remains diluted and finance elusive, Belém could mark not the decade of implementation — but the decade of lost opportunity.
The article has been authored by Pravin Kumar Singh, Senior Project Associate, World Intellectual Foundation.
Source – sarkaritel.com
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