In its letter to the Planning Commission, the environment ministry said the chapter was drafted ignoring the report of the inter-ministerial steering group set up specifically for the purpose and its contents "amount to prejudging India's negotiating position on climate change in international fora and her political responsibility at the global level".

TOI had reported on the Planning Commission's chapter on climate change stepping beyond the agency's mandate and trying to rewrite the obligations India has taken voluntarily and in the international domain on reducing climate change while underselling its claim to funds from developed countries to adapt to climate change and reduce emissions.

The environment ministry, which spearheads the climate change policy in the government, opposed the draft vehemently, noting that it attempts to alter the existing framework of national missions on climate change as mandated by the PM's council on climate change by pushing for new thrust areas. "These proposals are yet to be discussed by the PM's council on climate change. The restructuring or reorganization of missions should take place through a systematic procedure under the guidance of the PM's council," the ministry said.

It pointed out that the plan panel had ignored the recommendations of the steering group, which included representatives of all ministries concerned, and instead used another interim report of experts headed by Kirit Parikh, which has not been accepted by the government.

The plan panel chapter almost entirely focused on reducing emissions and sidelined what has been the primary focus of India's climate change policy - adapting to inevitable climate change. The ministry said, "The draft focuses primarily on a mitigation strategy for addressing climate change in India. The document must equally outline a comprehensive strategy for adaptation. The draft treats these issues nominally and instead, gives disproportionate prominence to the measures needed to curb emissions on the basis of report of the expert group on low carbon strategy."

The ministry also criticized the plan panel's version for diluting India's position on financing climate change actions by pushing hard for private funds instead of international public funding sources. The panel had suggested domestic taxes and carbon trade route to garner funds as well as recommended emission reducing policies without assessing the fiscal burden that would impose on the country.