US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry on Tuesday said that while India has not made any commitment to raise ambition ahead of the COP26 conference in Glasgow later this year during his meetings with Indian ministers and officials, he expects the country to make an announcement “on one thing or the other” going into the climate conference.
“I have told them [Indian government], like I have many others, that this is urgent. While people have not said exclusively no or yes, they have said they’ll take a look at [raising ambition]. This is the Prime Minister’s prerogative and internal deliberations need to take place before India can take that position,” said Kerry, concluding his three-day visit to the country.
“I’m confident that India is going to announce one thing or another going into COP, as will many other nations we haven’t heard from yet. So, I anticipate increases of ambition from a lot of different places,’’ he said.
On Kerry’s last visit in April, he had spoken of the importance of NGOs in combating climate change. When asked about funding restrictions placed on NGOs by the government, Kerry said, “I did not have a chance to have a conversation on that partly because I was not aware of the full measure of that particular situation. It is the United States position, broadly, for any country in the world, that we think vibrant exchange in civil society is critical and contributes to processes.”