Participants arrive to enter the venue for the COP30 UN climate summit on November 11, 2025 in Belem, Brazil. | Photo credit: AP
India made its first opening statement at COP30, stressing that the climate conference should emphasize “adaptation” and that the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement (signed in 2015) should not be used to “change the architecture” of that consensus.
This “architecture” refers to the agreed principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR)”, which means that all countries must do their part to reduce fossil fuel emissions without compromising national economic development priorities. With the United States withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and developed countries agreeing to mobilize only $300 billion – and not the required $1.35 trillion per year – by 2035 as “climate finance” (to deal with emerging climate disasters and to shift away from fossil fuels), developing countries, including India, saw this as a breach of agreed commitments.
“We must remain committed to justice and common but differentiated responsibilities and we must abide by them. The basic principles of the Convention and its Paris Agreement were signed by all of us at the CBDR in Brazil in 1992. We must reaffirm our firmest commitment to these principles, not try to push them aside and ignore them,” Indian delegation member Suman Chandra said at the Like-Minded Countries (LMDC) collective on Tuesday.
“During the next two weeks, we must stay true to the cause and move forward on adaptation, which is one of the most important issues for us. The Presidency (of the Brazilian COP) must specifically call on the parties to submit their national plan for adaptation in line with national priorities and progress,” she added.
The LMDC is a large collective that represents almost half of the world’s population and consists of China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Cuba, Egypt and several others.
India is yet to submit its National Adaptation Plan and an updated Nationally Determined Contribution, which specifies steps to reduce fossil fuel emissions by 2035, to the UN. “We are not here to point fingers but the facts speak for themselves. We cannot simply bypass roadblocks and obstacles to implementation,” added Ms. Chandra.
“Developed countries need to reach net zero much sooner than expected. They should invest significantly more in negative emissions technologies,” said Tanmay Kumar, secretary of the environment ministry and part of the Indian delegation on behalf of a joint statement by another grouping called BASIC (Brazil India China South Africa). The LMDC pushed for the inclusion of the discussion on the responsibility of developed countries in the COP30 agenda, but in the broader spirit of “consensus” it was moved to a separate agenda by COP30 President André Corrêa do Lago.
Published – 11 Nov 2025 22:36 IST
