No progress at COP29 in matters critical to developing countries: India

Delivering a statement in the closing plenary of the subsidiary bodies' meeting on the Mitigation Work Programme (MWP) on Saturday,16 Nov, India said that developed countries, which have historically contributed the most to greenhouse gas emissions and have more resources and the ability to act on climate change, have repeatedly delayed climate action and continuously shifted goalposts.

"We have seen no progress in matters that are critical for developing countries (during the last week). Our part of the world is facing some of the worst impacts of climate change, with far lower capacity to recover from those impacts or to adapt to the changes to the climatic system for which we are not responsible,” India’s deputy lead negotiator, Neelesh Sah, said. He said that the MWP is meant to help, not punish, and must respect each country’s right to set its own climate goals based on its unique needs and circumstances.

Sah said that if there are no means of implementation -- financial support, technology, and capacity-building -- developing and low-income economies cannot cut greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to its effects.

"How can we discuss climate action when it is being made impossible for us to act, even as our challenges in dealing with the impacts of climate change are increasing?" the Indian negotiator said.

India said that developed countries with the highest capacity to take climate action have "continuously shifted goals, delayed climate action, and consumed a highly disproportionate share of the global carbon budget" “We now have to meet our developmental needs in a situation where the carbon budget is depleting and the impacts of climate change are increasing. We are being asked to increase mitigation ambition by those who have shown no such ambition -- neither in their own mitigation efforts nor in providing the means of implementation,” Sah said.

At COP29, countries are discussing how the MWP -- created two years ago at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to help support mitigation -- should work and what it should focus on. Consultations on the MWP have remained tense, with developing countries saying that it was meant to help countries share ideas, experiences, and solutions for cutting emissions.

They argue that it was not supposed to create new targets or force any country to take specific actions. On the other hand, developed countries want the MWP to push for stronger, more immediate action from all countries.