India to unveil 2035 climate roadmap, first BTR by December: Environment Minister at COP30

Yadav said along with its 2035 NDCs, India would also release its first Biennial Transparency Report (BTR), as mandated under the Paris Agreement. BTRs are part of reporting mechanism instituted under the Paris Agreement, though which countries are supposed to periodically provide information about their greenhouse gas emissions inventory, the progress being made on their NDC targets, adaptation and other climate actions being undertaken, climate finance provided or received, other relevant issues like technology transfer and capacity building.

NDCs, on the other hand, are climate action plans that outline efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change impacts. Countries are required to update them every five years with progressively higher targets. India’s last NDC, for the period 2030, was announced in 2022 and the latest NDC is to be announced for the year 2035.

“We shall be declaring our revised NDCs for 2035 and also the first Biennial Transparency Report (BTR), in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement, by the end of the year,” Yadav said.

There was a lot of expectation that India, the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, would release its 2035 NDC at the COP30 event, but Yadav said there was still some time, and India would announce the plan after getting the clearance of the Union Cabinet.

“The process of formulating the updated NDC is underway at full scale. The entire plan will be submitted for cabinet approval and then we will be announcing it. We are not late on any schedule since we have our time till December to announce the report,” Yadav told Express.

Yadav arrived in Belém on November 16 (Sunday) and will be taking part in the negotiations during the second and final week of COP30.

During his speech on Monday, he outlined the actions that India was already taking to contribute to the global effort to tackle climate change.

“India’s non-fossil fuel-based energy capacity, currently around 256 Giga Watt (GW), accounts for more than half of its total electric store capacity (500 GW). Our NDC target (for 2030 has been) achieved five years ahead of schedule. India has demonstrated successfully that development and environmental stewardship can advance in tandem. India’s emission intensity has declined by over 36 per cent since 2005,” Yadav said in his speech.

The minister also stated that climate and energy sustainability initiatives adopted by India such as the International Solar Alliance and Global Biofuel Alliance have become global platforms for affordable and clean energy.

He said that India’s newly launched nuclear mission and green hydrogen mission have also accelerated India’s journey towards reaching its net zero target by 2070. Net zero is a situation in which a country’s total emissions are balanced by carbon absorption or removals from the atmosphere. India has said it will achieve this status by 2070.

“It is indeed a testament to the power our collective climate action. In the same spirit, developed countries must reach net zero far earlier than current target dates, fulfil their obligations under Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement, and deliver new, additional and concessional climate finance estimated to bring trillions of dollars. Means of implementation must be adequate, accessible, affordable and free from restrictive intellectual property barriers,” stated the union minister.

Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement states that developed country Parties “shall provide” financial resources to assist developing country Parties with respect to both mitigation and adaptation while Article 9.3 only asks the developed countries to “continue to take the lead in mobilising climate finance from a wide variety of sources”.

Meanwhile on November 11, while delivering statements on behalf of BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) and the Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDC), during the opening plenary of COP30, India had lamented that progress on doubling of adaptation finance was extremely slow, even though the requirement was for increasing the current levels of adaptation finance by 15 times.

India reiterated that adaptation was an urgent priority for billions of vulnerable people in developing countries who have contributed the least to global warming but stand to suffer the most from its impacts.