Why in News?

• Cabinet approves India’s Approach to the UN Climate Change Conference to be held in Spain Next Week.

Highlights:

• The Cabinet has approved India’s negotiating stand at the 25th Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) scheduled to be held in Madrid, Spain in the first and second weeks of December 2019.
• The COP is being held under the presidency of Chile.
• The Indian delegation is led by the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• COP 25 is an important conference as countries prepare to move from the pre-2020 period under the Kyoto Protocol to the post-2020 period under the Paris Agreement.
• India’s approach will be guided by principles and provisions of the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement particularly the principles of Equity and Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capability (CBDR-RC).
• Equity and Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capability (CBDR-RC):
• It is a principle within the UNFCCC that acknowledges the different capabilities and differing responsibilities of individual countries in addressing climate change.
• CBDR-RC has served as a guiding principle as well as a source of contention in the UN climate negotiations.
• Reflecting CBDR-RC, the Convention divided countries into “Annex I” and “non-Annex I,” the former generally referring to developed countries and the latter to developing countries.
• Under the Convention, Annex I countries have a greater mitigation role than non-Annex-I countries.

India’s Role:

• In the Climate Action Summit convened by United Nations Secretary-General, the Prime Minister announced India’s plan on scaling up of renewable energy target to 450 GW.
• He also called for responsible action by all on the principles of equity and CBDR-RC.
• India has been leading the world in its pursuit of enhanced solar energy capacity through International Solar Alliance (ISA).
• India has also launched the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, which will serve as a platform to generate and exchange knowledge on different aspects of climate and disaster-resilient infrastructure.
• Apart from this, India has launched along with Sweden, the ‘Leadership Group for Industry Transition’ which will provide a platform for government and the private sector in different countries to work together on accelerating low carbon growth and cooperation in the area of technology innovation.