They discussed the climate work related to the 56 member countries of the Commonwealth, India’s innovative climate solutions and ways to deepen collaboration.
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“I really commend India for its dedication, its commitment, and its energy to climate action, but most of all, India’s willingness to share the climate-related technology that we are all going to need in order to reverse the climate crisis in which we now find ourselves,” Baroness Scotland said in a statement after the meeting.
“This COP is perhaps the seminal moment that most of us have been waiting for because it’s the implementation COP. To have the 56 countries and the Commonwealth here together fighting for the same issue is fundamentally important,” she said.
Scheduled to run until December 12, the annual COP summit comes just months after Commonwealth environment ministers committed to accelerating climate action at their inaugural meeting held alongside the UN General Assembly in New York. Baroness Scotland’s team said she will deliver at least 20 speeches across the COP28 summit to urge negotiators to deliver a transformative outcome without any more delays or excuses.
“The worst predictions of climate change have become a daily reality. In the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable countries, fertile lands are turning to dust, wells are running dry, storms and floods are overwhelming communities, and the ocean is rising,” said Scotland.
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“Yet as climate change advances, the gap on emissions, finance and justice has widened, while the window for action continues to narrow. COP28 must close that gap. Every day of delay makes life more dangerous, and makes climate action more complex, challenging and expensive. There can be no more delays, and no more excuses – this is the time for implementation,” she said. During the summit, the Secretary-General will call for increased support for small and vulnerable states, highlighting that despite ambitious pledges, these countries are receiving limited funds to mitigate, adapt to and build resilience against the impacts of climate breakdown.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attending the World Climate Action Summit of COP28, being held under the presidency of the UAE, on Friday. In a departure statement on Thursday, he said that “India has always laid emphasis on climate action even as we pursue social and economic development”.
“It is important that efforts of the developing world be supported with adequate climate financing and technology transfer. They must have access to equitable carbon and development space to achieve sustainable development,” he stated.
