India flags mitigation burden at Baku meet

While India and the Global South are bearing huge economic burdens in mitigating climate crisis, severely limiting their capacity to meet developmental needs, it has not dampened India's resolve on climate action, Kirti Vardhan Singh, minister of state for environment and external affairs said at COP29 on Tuesday.

- Jayashree Nandi

"The high Carbon Emission Development Pathways of the Global North in past have left very little carbon space for the Global South. However, our growth trajectories for fulfilling the primary needs of sustainable development and poverty eradication cannot be compromised," he said as he presented India's national statement.

"Despite not contributing to the problem, we in the Global South are bearing huge financial burden on account of climate actions for mitigation on the one hand, and losses and damages caused by climate change on the other, thus severely limiting our capacity to meet our developmental needs," he said, while clarifying that "these have not dampened India's resolve and commitment to take ambitious climate actions".