Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman met Rt. Hon Alok Sharma, the COP 26 President Designate, and discussed various issues related to climate change and specifically COP 26 here today.

 

The Finance Minister stated that India is among a few G20 countries on track towards UNFCCC and Paris Agreement goals and has taken decisive actions to tackle climate change. Smt. Sitharaman mentioned that the Government is taking concrete steps and at appreciable speed to meet its commitments on the target of 450GW of renewable energy by 2030. 100GW of this renewable energy had already been achieved, She added. Among other important initiatives, the extensive work done on Hydrogen Energy Mission was highlighted.

With regards to ongoing discussions on climate change in various fora, Smt. Sitharaman referring to the dialogue on climate justice spoke about the need to bring a sense of compassion towards the poor. The Finance Minister expressed hope that the commitment made by the developed countries to provide $100 billion per year to developing countries would be achieved and was optimistic about a positive outcome on the new collective goals on finance in COP 26.

Climate finance emphasized; India stresses renewable energy progress and urges climate justice and new collective finance goals at COP. The Finance Minister reported India's progress toward its 2030 renewable energy target and ongoing Hydrogen Energy Mission as evidence of concrete steps to meet international climate obligations. She urged fulfillment of past finance pledges and advocated a compassionate Climate Justice approach, stressing the need for Climate Finance and new collective finance goals at COP 26 to support developing countries.