Referring to the WTO talks, where India had a face-off with the developed countries over the issue of food security, Javadekar hinted that India would continue to take a strong stand at the UNFCCC to protect its interests.

“India is also at the frontline of facing the impact of climate change. Shifting rainfall patterns, recurring floods, stronger cyclones and droughts or soil erosion are exacerbating the challenge of poverty eradication and necessitate the allocation of scarce national resources for preventing loss of human life,” he said, adding that most of the people living in abject poverty are in the developing countries and their development has to be a priority.

The Minister further took note of the measures being taken by India to combat climate change, such as the scaled-up solar mission, clean energy cess on coal and afforestation efforts. However, he repeated India’s call for “equitable carbon space to achieve sustainable development and eradicate poverty”, given that a major portion of the global carbon space has already been occupied by the industrialised countries.

He also reminded developed nations of the lack of funds for fighting climate change. Of the $110 billion promised annually, only $10 billion are in place.

“Developing countries’ needs for mitigation and adaptation are being estimated in the range of $600 to $1,500 billion a year. If there is no clear roadmap in the provision of public resources by developed countries to provide new and additional financial resources approaching $100 billion annually by 2020, and rising thereafter, then outcomes will be sub-optimal for a safer world,” he said.

He further drew a line on the negotiation front, saying there is no place for an ex-ante review of intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) — or the emission cut targets that would be made by developing countries. “We firmly believe that the INDCs are to be ‘nationally determined’. We do not see any role for any ex-ante review in this process,” he said.