India asserts that COP-28 should prioritise adaptation over mitigation

Ms. Leena Nandan, Secretary of the Environment Ministry, stated at a public meeting on Friday that the upcoming United Nations Conference of Parties (COP-28) in Dubai must place more emphasis on adaptation than mitigation.

The idea of adaptation and mitigation is at the core of international climate discourse. Providing financial and infrastructure support to nations that are most at risk from the consequences of global warming is referred to as “adaptation.” Reducing carbon pollution is known as mitigation, and historically, nations have fought over deadlines and upper emission limits to prevent a global temperature increase of 0.5 or 1 degree Celsius from current levels.

According to Ms. Nandan, who spoke at the “World Sustainable Development Summit” held here by The Energy Resources Institute, “Mitigation has always been our main priority.” But equality and climate justice are fundamentally based on adaptation. The term “climate finance” itself has not yet been defined when used in conversation. Action should be the main focus of COP-28.

The COP-27, which ended in Cairo in November 2022, was highlighted by the decision to create a Loss and Damages Fund to recompense some countries for the harm already caused by climate change. Even though it is predicted to be worth at least $500 billion, there is no consensus on who will fund it.

The “global stocktake,” or the time when representatives to the climate treaties are predicted to update the world on the achievements they’ve achieved in fulfilling their national pledges of obligations to decarbonize and grow towards a 1.5 °C limit, the gaps that exist, and the way forward to closing them, is expected to be a major highlight of the Dubai COP, which is scheduled for November.

The Conference of Parties and environmental treaties are built on the UNFCCC, or “United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.”