At UN climate summit, India to flex its negotiating muscles
Associated PressBENGALURU, India — As countries gathered in Scotland were crystallizing their pledges at last year’s United Nations climate conference, India used its might to intervene. Along with China, India took issue with the draft deal’s suggestion to “phase out” coal, preferring the wording, “phase down.” After much back and forth and hurried discussions between leaders, Bhupendra Yadav, India’s minister for environment, forests, and climate change, read out the final version. “India has made it adequately clear that it is the historical responsibility of rich countries to provide the necessary climate funding,” said the senior Indian government official. Compensation for poor countries from rich, high-polluting nations for the destruction caused by climate change, known as “loss and damage” in climate negotiations will be a key agenda item for many developing countries, including India. “I think it would be an important moment for India to signal its allegiance with vulnerable countries,” Long term observers of climate diplomacy say India, like many other countries, is straddling climate goals and boosting standards of living.