COP31: India yet to back Türkiye’s ’35 by 2035′ electrification goal, says targets must respect national circumstances

With the UN climate conference in Antalya only days away, India has signalled that it will weigh any new global target against its own development needs before signing up. Bhupender Yadav, the Union Environment Minister, told reporters on Tuesday, 3 November, that India has not yet decided whether to back the COP31 host Türkiye’s proposal that 35 per cent of the world’s energy needs be met through electricity by 2035.

Each nation, he said, has to weigh such goals against its own conditions, its sovereignty and its work to end poverty. A statement from his ministry stressed that “voluntary initiatives under the Presidency Action Agenda should remain separate from negotiations and that uniform global targets must respect national circumstances”.

Equity and finance top India’s list

Yadav, who heads India’s team at the 31st Conference of the Parties opening in Antalya on Monday, 9 November, said India’s first priority in the talks is full respect for equity and for the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. He said fossil fuels could not be phased out at once, as giving ordinary people access to energy remains the government’s main concern. “India will always be part of the solution, not part of the problem,” he said.

India also wants rich nations to deliver the climate finance they have promised, and is seeking a COP31 decision that starts the Climate Finance Work Programme.

The Turkish Presidency unveiled its Action Agenda at the Bonn climate talks in June, listing 10 priority areas and six key targets. COP31 President-Designate Murat Kurum has called the electrification goal a core priority. The other proposals include halving the growth of global waste by 2035 and cutting the energy-use intensity of buildings by a quarter or more. Kurum has said the targets would be pursued in a way that allows for differences between countries, with particular attention to developing economies.

Climate diplomacy has also been busy in New Delhi, where the International Solar Alliance is holding its ninth Assembly. French minister Mathieu Lefevre, whose country has again been chosen as the alliance’s co-president, held talks on COP31 and climate finance with Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh on 3 November.