NEW DELHI — Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav on Tuesday outlined India's priorities for COP31 of the UNFCCC, to be held in Antalya, Türkiye, from November 9 to 20, 2026, the Press Information Bureau reported. Briefing the media in New Delhi, Yadav said India will approach COP31 with a solution-oriented vision, bringing practical solutions for the Global South, with capacity building, knowledge sharing and geography-specific solutions at the core, and will work closely with the G-77 and China, LMDC and BASIC groups.
Source: PIB via India Education Diary
Climate finance will be a key priority, Yadav said, with India seeking a COP31 decision to commence the Climate Finance Work Programme. He emphasised that finance is an obligation of developed countries under Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement and must be predictable, largely public and concessional, and should not add to the debt burden. India will also press for mitigation and the Global Stocktake to remain Party-driven, facilitative and non-punitive, respecting the nationally determined nature of NDCs and ruling out new top-down targets, the PIB reported.
Source: PIB via India Education Diary
Adaptation, just transition and technology
Adaptation will remain a priority for India, with Global Goal on Adaptation indicators being voluntary and not conditioning access to finance, alongside scaled-up adaptation finance, Yadav said. India will support continuation of the Just Transition Work Programme through a Party-driven mechanism, viewing just transition through the lens of climate justice, the right to development and affordable energy access. On technology, India will emphasise that technology transfer is an obligation of developed countries and that barriers related to cost, intellectual property rights and trade must be addressed, and that participation in carbon markets should remain voluntary, Keekli reported from the same briefing.
Source: Keekli — India Sets Sights on Equitable Climate Finance Ahead of COP31
India will also highlight the linkage between adaptation in agriculture, food security and the livelihoods of small and marginal farmers. Its engagements at COP31 will include LeadIT 3.0 with Sweden, in addition to high-level side events on coastal resilience and panels on the International Big Cat Alliance and forests. Yadav said India will play a constructive, bridge-building role in Antalya, seeking an outcome that moves from commitments to implementation and support.
Source: PIB via India Education Diary
What Yadav reported from the biodiversity and land summits
Yadav also reported the outcomes of India's participation in CBD COP17 in Yerevan, Armenia, where India reaffirmed commitment to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and advocated fair and equitable benefit-sharing, including through the Cali Fund, while opposing any shifting of financial responsibilities onto developing countries. At UNCCD COP17 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, India was elected Chair of the Asia-Pacific Regional Group and reiterated its commitment to restore over 26 million hectares of land by 2030, calling for a shift from drought response to drought resilience, the PIB reported.
Source: PIB via India Education Diary
What happens next: COP31 opens in Antalya on November 9. India's test will be whether the Climate Finance Work Programme decision it is seeking is adopted, and whether the Party-driven, non-punitive approach to mitigation and the Global Stocktake that Yadav set out holds in the final outcome.