Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav on Wednesday urged a stronger focus on bridging gaps in understanding, delivering on existing climate commitments and speeding up implementation of the Paris Agreement.
Achieving this, he added, would require matching means of implementation, and the focus should now be on assessing how the world can speed up its progress towards these goals. On implementation, the minister called for closing identified gaps where the need is greatest and the impact is visible and felt by the majority. He also emphasised the need for greater capacity building and urged parties to bring concrete examples and success stories every year – demonstrating high-impact mitigation, large-scale adaptation and effective delivery of means of implementation.
Yadav said the long-term objectives and goals are already set under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Paris Agreement, including the ambition to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
Yadav said success in Antalya (Turkiye) – where COP31 will be held in November – should not be measured simply by new targets or declarations, but by whether implementation is accelerated, support has reached those who need it, and whether existing solutions can be taken to scale. Referring to the COP31 Presidencies’ focus on consensus, decision-making and implementation, the minister said there is an overall consensus on the long-term goals and direction of climate multilateralism. On decision-making, Yadav said the key decision required from parties is to fulfil their commitments under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement “in true letter and spirit,” and to enable every party to meet these commitments.
The pre-COP is a preparatory meeting held a few weeks before the annual UN Climate Change Conference.
