Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend COP26 in Glasgow after taking part in the Group of 20 summit in Rome this weekend. Photo: Mohd. Muqeed/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
India's top environmental official on Wednesday dismissed calls to set forth a net zero carbon emissions target, arguing such goals were not the solution to the climate crisis, Reuters reports.
Why it matters: India is the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases after the U.S. and China.
- India's environment secretary Rameshwar Prasad Gupta's comments come ahead of the Sunday start of COP26, a key United Nations summit aimed at rallying actions to stem emissions that are on pace to bring global warming well beyond the Paris Agreement goals.
- Gupta told reporters that net zero "in itself isn't a solution" as cumulative emissions were behind the climate crisis, per AP, which notes that the country has "historically contributed only 4% of total emissions since the 1850s."
- "It is how much carbon you are going to put in the atmosphere before reaching net zero that is more important," he added, according to Reuters.
Of note: Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav said India was on course to meet the Paris Agreement target and said "all options" were on the table for newer goals, AP reports.
- Yadav said wealthy nations should acknowledge their "historic responsibility" for emissions and help protect developing countries.
The big picture: Scientific reports have shown that such targets are necessary for reaching the 1.5 degrees Celsius or 2 degrees Celsius Paris goals. Agreeing to net-zero emissions by midcentury is a central goal of the U.S. and the United Kingdom, which is hosting the talks, Axios' Andrew Freedman notes.
Go deeper: The fraught sprint to the UN climate summit