NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India will miss the February deadline to submit a next round of national climate action plans required by the UN Paris Agreement and has yet to complete the exercise, one government official said, making it the latest nation to delay.
The agreement sets a Monday deadline for nations to deliver tougher action plans for 2035, called Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), in line with a target of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees F).
“India has yet to finish its studies on emission trajectories and roadmap,” said the official, who sought anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
“It is unlikely we will submit the updated commitments within the given time frame.”
India’s environment ministry did not immediately respond to a query from Reuters.
Such plans have a vital role in helping countries limit warming to the Paris Agreement goals, but only a handful of countries such as Brazil, Britain, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates have submitted them.
China, also among the world’s largest polluters, has not presented its climate plan yet.
New Delhi is trying to finish the studies early but has not set a deadline for itself, the official added.
The United States, under President Joe Biden, made the 2035 submissions in December, before his successor, Donald Trump, took charge and quit the Paris Agreement to halt U.S. climate action.
(Reporting by Sarita Chaganti Singh; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
