India will advocate equitable, practical and solution-oriented climate action at the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), with a focus on climate finance, adaptation and technology transfer.
Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav outlined India’s priorities during a media briefing in New Delhi on Tuesday. COP31 is scheduled to take place in Antalya, Türkiye, from November 9 to 20, 2026.
Yadav said India would seek a decision at COP31 to initiate the Climate Finance Work Programme. He stressed that developed countries must fulfil their obligations under Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement.
India will advocate predictable, largely public and concessional climate finance that does not increase the debt burden of developing countries.
The country will coordinate with the G-77 and China, Like-Minded Developing Countries and BASIC group to represent the interests of developing nations.
India will support voluntary indicators under the Global Goal on Adaptation and argue that they should not become conditions for accessing climate finance.
The country will also support the continuation of the Just Transition Work Programme through a Party-driven approach, guided by climate justice, the right to development and affordable energy access.
On mitigation, India will favour discussions that remain facilitative, Party-driven and non-punitive, while respecting the nationally determined nature of climate commitments.
India will highlight the responsibility of developed countries to facilitate technology transfer and address barriers involving costs, intellectual property rights and trade.
Yadav also said participation in carbon markets should remain voluntary. India will emphasise that global climate targets must account for national circumstances.
The country’s COP31 engagements will include LeadIT 3.0, in collaboration with Sweden, and high-level events on coastal resilience, forests and the International Big Cat Alliance.
The minister also discussed India’s participation in recent international biodiversity and land restoration negotiations.
At the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Yerevan, Armenia, India reaffirmed its commitment to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. It emphasised fair benefit-sharing, community participation and adequate financial resources.
India also called for developed countries to fulfil their financial obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity and highlighted equitable benefit-sharing from Digital Sequence Information, including through the Cali Fund.
At the UN Convention to Combat Desertification COP17 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, India highlighted land restoration as essential for food and water security, biodiversity and rural livelihoods.
After being elected Chair of the Asia-Pacific Regional Group, India reiterated its commitment to restoring more than 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030. It also called for stronger international financing for land restoration and drought resilience.
India launched its first Guide to Grasslands and Other Open Natural Ecosystems of India, supporting a science-based and landscape-specific approach to ecological restoration.
