India's delayed action plan raises eyebrows at COP30 climate summit

At this year's UN climate summit (COP30), under way in Brazil's Belem city, all eyes are on India - the world's third largest carbon emitter.

India has not yet submitted a key climate plan that countries are required to do every five years, even as international assessments have deemed India's climate action as being "worryingly inadequate". Delhi has argued otherwise.

Known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the updated plan from each member country to the UN Framework Climate Convention (UNFCC) is expected to have more ambitious carbon reduction targets as the world has failed to make the required level of cuts to avoid dangerous global warming.

So far, around 120 of the 196 member countries of the UNFCCC have submitted their updated plans and India is among the remaining ones.

The Paris climate agreement signed in 2015 has the goal of limiting average global temperature rise to well below 2C and to strive for 1.5C to avert drastic climate change.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) says that by 2035, annual emissions will have to be reduced by 35% and 55%, compared with 2019, to align with the goals of the Paris agreement.

But emissions have continued to rise almost every year since then, and the climate plans submitted to the UNFCCC until 10 November show that there will be emissions reduction of only around 12% by 2035 – that too if countries fully implement their policies.

UNEP warns that current emission policies put the world on track for 2.8C of warming this century, underscoring the need for far more ambitious carbon-cutting targets.

The first deadline for the updated climate plan (NDC3) was February, but it was extended until September as more than 90% of member countries failed to meet it.

All eyes were on top emitters like China, India and the European Union, also because US President Donald Trump once again announced his country's exit from the Paris agreement, leaving the world wondering if other major emitters would offer to plug the gap.

But many countries missed the September deadline too. While some began to submit their plans before COP30, there were expectations that the remaining would do so during the climate meet in Belem.

Some have done so, but India kept the world guessing until environment minister Bhupender Yadav, who led the country's delegation in Belem, told the media this week that Delhi would submit its plan only by the end of December.

So, why has India delayed submitting its climate plan, even though it could mean inviting negative press during COP30?

Though it has not explained its stance, Delhi appears keen to highlight a view shared by many developing nations: that rich countries bear historic responsibility to slash emissions and provide far greater financial support to the developing world.

A week before COP30 kicked off, Yadav wrote an opinion piece in the Economic Times newspaper where he argued that "global climate progress can't come from endless discussions alone".

"For too long, the world has been caught in a cycle of negotiations, while the planet's distress signal grows louder. While dialogue is important, action is imperative," he wrote.

While delivering India's statement at COP30, Yadav seemed to expand on this argument.

"Developed countries must reach net zero far earlier than current target dates and deliver new, additional and concessional climate finance at a scale of trillions, not billions," he said.

Indian officials, like many negotiators from the developing world, argue that their updated climate plans with more ambitious carbon reduction targets will mean nothing if they do not receive financial and technological support from developed countries.

The Paris climate agreement requires developed countries to provide financial support to the developing world, but it has remained a contentious issue.

The last COP in Baku, Azerbaijan, saw angry reactions from the developing world when developed countries said they would provide $300bn (£229bn) annually as climate finance by 2035, while poor countries were demanding more than $1tn.

Developing countries also say there has been no clarity and transparency on how the $300bn will be provided, and that developed countries are pushing for private finance which will burden poor countries with loans.

Meanwhile, some developed countries have argued that fast-emerging economies like China and India should also contribute to the global climate finance pot.

"The best way to make sure that Europe can sustain that [the climate finance it has been providing] is by inviting others who have the ability to do so… to chip in," Wopke Hoekstra, climate commissioner at the European Commission, told a press conference at COP30.

Without naming any country, he said in many cases (such other countries) have far higher GDP per capita than a vast majority of European member states.

India says it shouldn't be pressed for a more ambitious climate plan as it has already met a key pledge - to have 50% of its installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel sources - years ahead of the 2030 deadline.

Global assessments praise this but also flag other challenges.

Climate Action Tracker - an independent scientific project that tracks government climate action and measures it against the globally agreed Paris agreement - has rated India's climate targets and actions as "highly insufficient".

It has pointed out that coal's share in India's total electricity generation continues to be around 75%, while it must drop to at least 19% to align the country's climate action with the global goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5C.

Another report released at COP30 has also underscored India's over-dependence on coal.

In the Climate Change Performance Index, published by environmental think-tank GermanWatch, India slipped 13 spots over the past year to rank 23rd on the list of 63 countries and the EU.

"India's national pathway is still anchored in coal and there is no national coal exit timeline and new coal blocks continue to be auctioned," a report by the think-tank noted.

According to the recent UN emissions gap report, India saw the highest increase in greenhouse gas emissions in 2024 compared to the previous year, followed by China and Indonesia.

But the world's largest carbon emitter China, usually India's ally at climate negotiations to counter developed countries, has already submitted its updated climate plan.

And now COP30 is also discussing whether there should be an announcement of a roadmap for the world to transition away from fossil fuels.

It remains to be seen if criticism around India's dependence on coal will influence its updated climate plan, which it has committed to submit before this year ends.