PM Narendra Modi returns to the country after concluding his 5-day visit to Rome, Vatican and Glasgow

PM Narendra Modi held various bilateral meetings with several heads of the state on the sidelines of the G20. He also met German Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel, Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez and Italian PM Mario Draghi, Pope Francis, President of the European Council, Charles Michel, President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns to the country on Wednesday (November 3) after concluding his visit to Rome (Italy), Vatican City and Glasgow (Scotland). At COP26 summit in Glasgow, the prime minister enhanced India`s self-declared renewable energy commitments and outlined the country's position on global issues at G20 Summit.

During his COP26 address on Monday, Prime Minister Modi announced five "amrit tatva" including the target to attain net-zero emissions by 2070. He declared that India will increase its capacity of non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW and meet 50 per cent of its energy requirements through renewable energy by 2030.

At the Conference of Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, PM Modi delivered a "seminal" statement at the 26th session of the Conference of Parties (COP26) and highlighted the range and depth of climate actions taken by India along with future goals that the country has set for itself.

Highlighting India`s efforts to combat climate change, PM Modi stated that India is the only major economy that has worked and delivered on the Paris commitments both in letter and spirit.

He also participated in the Build Back Better for the World (B3W) event and laid stress on four aspects in infrastructure creation including sustainable and transparent finance that respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Modi and British Prime Minister Johnson launched the Infrastructure for the Resilient Island States (IRIS) initiative in Glasgow. The launch was part of the India-UK Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).

PM Modi also attended the launch event of Infrastructure for the Resilient Island States and announced that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will build a special data window for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) for timely information about cyclones, coral-reef monitoring, coast-line monitoring through satellite.

The 26th session of the Conference of Parties (COP26) is the first major summit that was held physically, where more than 120 countries participated after the COVID-19 pandemic.

PM Modi also held various bilateral meetings with several heads of the state on the sidelines of the G20. He met German Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Pope Francis, President of the European Council, Charles Michel, President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

In Rome, Prime Minister also met Indonesia President Joko Widodo and Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong. The Prime Minister also met French President Emmanuel Macron. Emmanuel Macron and the two leaders expressed satisfaction at the state of the wide-ranging India-France Strategic Partnership.

"Departing from Glasgow after two days of intense discussions about the future of our planet. India has not only exceeded the Paris commitments but has now also set an ambitious agenda for the next 50 years," tweeted PM Modi. 

India calls for hike in climate finance to 1 tn dollars

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav has called upon the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) to work closely to protect the interests of developing countries. He also urged that climate finance cannot continue at the levels decided in 2009 and should be increased to at least 1 trillion dollars to meet the goals of addressing climate change. 

Speaking at the Ministerial meeting of the LMDC held on the sidelines of COP 26 in Glasgow, Yadav underlined the unity and strength of LMDC as fundamental in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations to preserve the interest of the Global South in the fight against climate change. The participating countries in the meeting included India, China, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Yadav highlighted that recognition of the current challenges being faced by developing countries required intensified multilateral cooperation, not intensified global economic and geopolitical competition and trade wars.

The Minister also appreciated the efforts of the Third World Network (TWN) for its support to LMDC and expressed the need to ensure resources to TWN. Yadav called upon the LMDC countries to work closely to protect the interests of developing countries, including the need to ensure a balanced outcome with equal treatment to all agenda items including finance, adaptation, market mechanisms, response measures, and decisions on the delivery of transfer of environment-friendly technologies.

The countries collectively underscored that it needs to be ensured that the voices of the LMDC countries are heard loud and clear. The developed countries must provide means of implementation to developing countries in terms of climate finance, technology transfer and capacity building.

They highlighted the empty promises of the developed countries and the inability to deliver the USD 100 billion per year by 2020. They also called upon the speedy finalisation of the Paris Rulebook.

(With Agency Inputs)