Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Tuesday that the aim of climate action should not be to change the climate ambition goalpost to 2050, but rather to fulfill countries' pre-2020 commitments.

Javadekar, who was representing India at the UN Security Council open debate on "Addressing climate-related threats to international peace and security," said climate action must be coupled with support for providing financial, technological, and capacity-building assistance to developing countries.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement negotiated under it are the core frameworks for national-level climate action based on certain fundamentally agreed principles. The most relevant of which is "Shared yet Distinct Obligation and Respective Capabilities," he said.

The Minister cited the 2019 IPCC Special Report “Climate Change and Land,” which explains that severe weather and climate or slow-onset events could lead to increased displacement, disrupted food chains, threatening livelihoods. It could contribute to increased stress for conflict. As a result, Javadekar emphasized the importance of ensuring that no parallel tracks for climate negotiations should be created, ignoring the fundamentally accepted principles.

“While climate change does create violent conflict directly, its interaction with other social, political, and economic factors can intensify conflict. It can have negative implications for peace, stability, and security. It is because of this reason that developing countries need necessary information on adaptation activities, the requirement of finance for technology development and transfer of the same, capacity building, and transparency, under the ‘Nationally Defined Contributions under the Paris Agreement.

Javadekar reiterated that the commitment made by developed countries to mobilize $100 billion per year, by 2020 to support climate action in developing countries has not been fulfilled. Further, he adds, women being primary caregivers are living on the frontline of climate changes. With this distinct knowledge and experience, they can contribute to building effective adaptation strategies. Hence, it’s important to promote and support the meaningful participation of women in marginalized groups in national-level climate change policy and planning processes.

The Minister affirms that India has become the only country on track among the G20 nations, which has met its climate change mitigation commitments, as per Paris Agreement. India has exceeded the targets as well.

Post Covid-19 recovery, India is working with a belief that there are big opportunities for those countries that will incorporate low-carbon development in Covid-19 rescue and recovery programs. Long-term mitigation strategies have also been implied and are scheduled to be announced for the upcoming 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 26) in the year 2021.

Earlier, in February 2021, The UK has kept UNSC Presidency. One of its aims was to keep this as an open debate.