DM Monitoring
NEW DELHI: US climate envoy John Kerry will hold talks with Indian leaders during an Asian tour starting on Thursday in an effort to narrow differences on climate change goals to slow global warming.
However, conspicuously absent from his schedule is a stopover in Pakistan, one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate challenges, or talks with the government that has since coming to office in August 2018 has unveiled a wide-ranging plan to change practices and cut emissions that drive climate change.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is facing calls from the US and Britain to commit India, the world’s third-biggest carbon emitter, to a net-zero emissions target by 2050.
India, whose per capita emissions are way lower than that of the United States, European countries, and even China, is concerned that binding itself to such a target could constrain the energy needs of its people.
Last week, US President Joe Biden invited 40 world leaders to a two-day Leaders Summit on Climate “to galvanise efforts by the major economies to tackle the climate crisis” but skipped Pakistan. The virtual summit, which follows Washington’s return to the 2016 Paris agreement, is slated to be held on April 22 and April 23.
Responding to the snub, the Foreign Office said: “Climate change is one of the defining challenges of our times that can only be countered through inclusive, cooperative and forward-looking policies. Pakistan remains fully committed to play its due role in this fight.”
Kerry kicks off his trip on Thursday that will also take him to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bangladesh, which experts say is especially vulnerable to climate change as it has large numbers of people living in areas barely above sea level, and lacks the infrastructure to protect them.
“Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry will travel to Abu Dhabi, New Delhi, and Dhaka April 1-9, 2021, for consultations on increasing climate ambition” the State Department said in a press statement.
