The international climate summit here has been billed as the “last, best hope” to save the planet. But as the United Nations conference enters its second week and negotiators from 197 countries knuckle down to finalize a new agreement to tackle global warming, attendees were sharply divided over how much progress is being made.

There is the optimistic view: Heads of state and titans of industry showed up in force last week with splashy new climate promises, a sign that momentum was building in the right direction.

“I believe what is happening here is far from business as usual,” said John Kerry, President Joe Biden’s special envoy on climate change, who has been attending UN&nbsp;climate summits since 1992. “I have never counted as many initiatives and as much real money — real money — being put on the table.”

For example, 105 countries agreed to cut emissions of methane, a potent planet-warming gas, by 30% this decade. Another 130 countries vowed to halt deforestation by 2030 and commit billions of dollars toward the effort. India for the first time joined the growing chorus of nations pledging to reach “net zero” emissions, setting a 2070 deadline to stop adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

Then there is the pessimistic view: All these gauzy promises mean little without concrete plans to follow through. And that is still lacking. Or, as Swedish activist Greta Thunberg put it, the conference has mostly consisted of “blah, blah, blah.”

Malik Amin Aslam, an adviser to the prime minister of Pakistan, scoffed at some of the distant net zero goals being announced, including India’s: “With an average age of 60, I don’t think anyone in the negotiating room would live to experience that net zero in 2070,” he said.

Critics noted that some of last week’s announcements turned out to be full of caveats. After signing the forest pledge, officials in Indonesia, home to the world’s third-largest rainforest, clarified that ending deforestation in their country by 2030 at the expense of economic development was “obviously inappropriate and unfair.” Another vow by more than 40 countries to phase out coal power featured vague timelines and left out major coal users like China, India and the United States.

“The actual negotiations here are in danger of being drowned out by a blitz of news releases that get great headlines, but are often less than meets the eye,” said Mohamed Adow, director of Power Shift Africa, a research institute based in Kenya. “There’s a lot of good talk and less real action.”

Adow said the summit should be judged on whether all 197 parties can craft a detailed, formal agreement that holds governments accountable for the promises they make. That would mean reaching consensus on wonky but crucial questions like how often nations should strengthen their near-term plans to cut emissions, the amount and type of financial aid that rich countries should give poorer ones to cope with the mounting dangers of climate change, and how to regulate the booming global market in carbon offsets.

Behind closed doors, negotiators are still debating key issues as they seek to expand and update the landmark 2015 Paris climate agreement. By tradition, a final agreement requires every single country to sign on — if any one of them objects, talks can deadlock.

How these disputes get resolved by the time the summit ends Friday could determine the success of the Glasgow talks.

“The reality is you’ve got two different truths going on,” said Helen Mountford, vice president for climate and economics at the World Resources Institute. “We’ve made much more progress than we ever could’ve imagined a couple years ago. But it’s still nowhere near enough.”

When the conference opened November&nbsp;1, UN&nbsp;Secretary-General António Guterres said the top priority must be to limit the rise in global temperatures to just 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, above preindustrial levels. That is the threshold, scientists have warned, beyond which the risk of calamities like deadly heat waves, water shortages and ecosystem collapse grows immensely. (The world has already warmed 1.1 degrees Celsius.)

Countries are all but certain to leave Glasgow short of achieving that goal. The big question is whether the lofty pledges this week, along with a new formal agreement, can push them further along.

When analysts at the UN&nbsp;tallied up all the formal plans that nations have submitted so far to curb emissions over the next decade, they estimated that the world was on track to heat up roughly 2.7 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels by 2100. That is both an improvement over where things stood a decade ago and also far off track.

To limit warming to just 1.5 degrees Celsius, the UN&nbsp;said, global emissions from fossil fuels need to plummet by roughly half between 2010 and 2030. Instead, emissions are set to rise over that period.

“Recent climate action announcements might give the impression that we are on track to turn things around,” Guterres said last week. “This is an illusion.”

On Thursday, however, the International Energy Agency offered a more hopeful picture. If you factor in some of the longer term, less-detailed promises that countries made last week — including pledges to reach net zero emissions by most of the world’s biggest economies, as well as the global agreement to cut methane — then the world could potentially keep warming to as low as 1.8 degrees Celsius by 2100.

“I certainly never thought we’d get to next Friday confidently on track to 1.5 degrees, but if we can break the 2-degree barrier, I think psychologically that will be huge and maybe give us more of a collective belief that we can go faster,” said Nigel Topping, chosen by the UN&nbsp;as its “high-level climate action champion.”

Yet many environmentalists remained sceptical of the International Energy Agency’s projection.

“It’s assuming that countries like Australia and Saudi Arabia will get there by 2050, simply because they’ve said they will,” said Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace International. “When in reality they haven’t put in place the funding or policies to make this happen.”

One issue being debated this week is whether countries should have to come back to the UN&nbsp;more frequently, perhaps annually, with stronger short-term pledges to cut emissions. At the moment, governments are not expected to submit new plans until 2025.

“That’s a bit too late for many countries to strengthen their pledges for this decade, since they’ll have built a lot of fossil-fuel infrastructure by then and will have locked in additional emissions,” said Jennifer Tollmann, an analyst for E3G, a climate research group.

Sabra Ibrahim Noordeen is the climate envoy for the Maldives, an archipelago of low-lying islands in the Indian Ocean that has been inhabited for thousands of years but could be inundated within three generations because of rising seas. She said countries like hers were depending on the summit to get it right.

“Please get us to 1.5,” she said.

Even more contentious is the question of money, which has long been a big sticking point in global climate talks.

A decade ago, the world’s wealthiest nations pledged $100 billion per year by 2020 to help poorer countries transition to cleaner energy and protect themselves against the growing dangers from heat waves, floods, droughts and wildfires as the planet heats up.

So far, those promises have not been met. By one estimate, wealthy countries are still falling short by tens of billions of dollars per year. And critics have said that even this money has been poorly targeted. A large fraction of aid to date has been handed out as loans, which developing countries often struggle to repay. And only a sliver of financing has gone toward efforts to adapt to climate change.

As the dangers from extreme weather rise, vulnerable countries say their financial needs are soaring.

Sonam P. Wangdi, who leads a bloc of 47 nations known as the Least Developed Countries, pointed out that his home country of Bhutan bears little responsibility for global warming, since the nation currently absorbs more carbon dioxide from its vast forests than it emits from its cars and homes. Nonetheless, Bhutan faces severe risks from rising temperatures, with melting glaciers in the Himalayas already creating flash floods and mudslides that have devastated villages.

“We have contributed the least to this problem yet we suffer disproportionately,” Wangdi said. “There must be increasing support for adapting to impacts.”

At the same time, vulnerable countries are arguing for a separate funding mechanism to help compensate them for disasters that they cannot adapt to, often referred to as “loss and damage.” But that proposal faces opposition from wealthier countries, which fear it could open the door to future compensation claims.

“So far the progress here is disappointing, and in a way frightening,” Wangdi said. “Our lives depend on decisions made here in Glasgow.”

Outside the conference center over the weekend, tens of thousands of protesters marched in lashing rains and bitter winds to urge countries to take more forceful measures to combat climate change.

In an interview on the sidelines of the conference, former Vice President Al Gore said that he sympathized with protesters. “God bless them, it’s a needed element for this whole process,” Gore said. “That absolutely keeps the pressure on.”

But Gore added that the Glasgow summit was “already a success,” saying that “the direction of travel is toward net-zero,” and that was encouraging.

Others argued that it was simplistic to expect a single conference to solve global warming. The Paris Agreement was intended to add transparency to countries’ climate plans and ratchet up pressure on world leaders to do more. But ultimately, the real test would be whether policymakers and businesses and activists make that vision a reality back home.

“The day after Glasgow ends, there’s still going to be a lot of work to do,” said Kaveh Guilanpour, a vice president at the Center for Energy and Climate Solutions who has worked as a negotiator for various parties at past summits. “A new agreement could set the foundations for what comes next, but it’s up to all of us to maintain pressure after that. The problem is not going to be fixed in one go.”

“We may not really know how successful Glasgow was,” he added, “until a couple of years down the road.”

The international climate summit here has been billed as the “last, best hope” to save the planet. But as the United Nations conference enters its second week and negotiators from 197 countries knuckle down to finalize a new agreement to tackle global warming, attendees were sharply divided over how much progress is being made.

The international climate summit here has been billed as the “last, best hope” to save the planet. But as the United Nations conference enters its second week and negotiators from 197 countries knuckle down to finalize a new agreement to tackle global warming, attendees were sharply divided over how much progress is being made. There is the optimistic view: Heads of state and titans of industry showed up in force last week with splashy new climate promises, a sign that momentum was building in the right direction. “I believe what is happening here is far from business as usual,” said John Kerry, President Joe Biden’s special envoy on climate change, who has been attending UN climate summits since 1992. “I have never counted as many initiatives and as much real money — real money — being put on the table.” For example, 105 countries agreed to cut emissions of methane, a potent planet-warming gas, by 30% this decade. Another 130 countries vowed to halt deforestation by 2030 and commit billions of dollars toward the effort. India for the first time joined the growing chorus of nations pledging to reach “net zero” emissions, setting a 2070 deadline to stop adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Then there is the pessimistic view: All these gauzy promises mean little without concrete plans to follow through. And that is still lacking. Or, as Swedish activist Greta Thunberg put it, the conference has mostly consisted of “blah, blah, blah.” Malik Amin Aslam, an adviser to the prime minister of Pakistan, scoffed at some of the distant net zero goals being announced, including India’s: “With an average age of 60, I don’t think anyone in the negotiating room would live to experience that net zero in 2070,” he said. Critics noted that some of last week’s announcements turned out to be full of caveats. After signing the forest pledge, officials in Indonesia, home to the world’s third-largest rainforest, clarified that ending deforestation in their country by 2030 at the expense of economic development was “obviously inappropriate and unfair.” Another vow by more than 40 countries to phase out coal power featured vague timelines and left out major coal users like China, India and the United States. “The actual negotiations here are in danger of being drowned out by a blitz of news releases that get great headlines, but are often less than meets the eye,” said Mohamed Adow, director of Power Shift Africa, a research institute based in Kenya. “There’s a lot of good talk and less real action.” Adow said the summit should be judged on whether all 197 parties can craft a detailed, formal agreement that holds governments accountable for the promises they make. That would mean reaching consensus on wonky but crucial questions like how often nations should strengthen their near-term plans to cut emissions, the amount and type of financial aid that rich countries should give poorer ones to cope with the mounting dangers of climate change, and how to regulate the booming global market in carbon offsets. Behind closed doors, negotiators are still debating key issues as they seek to expand and update the landmark 2015 Paris climate agreement. By tradition, a final agreement requires every single country to sign on — if any one of them objects, talks can deadlock. How these disputes get resolved by the time the summit ends Friday could determine the success of the Glasgow talks. “The reality is you’ve got two different truths going on,” said Helen Mountford, vice president for climate and economics at the World Resources Institute. “We’ve made much more progress than we ever could’ve imagined a couple years ago. But it’s still nowhere near enough.” When the conference opened November 1, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the top priority must be to limit the rise in global temperatures to just 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, above preindustrial levels. That is the threshold, scientists have warned, beyond which the risk of calamities like deadly heat waves, water shortages and ecosystem collapse grows immensely. (The world has already warmed 1.1 degrees Celsius.) Countries are all but certain to leave Glasgow short of achieving that goal. The big question is whether the lofty pledges this week, along with a new formal agreement, can push them further along. When analysts at the UN tallied up all the formal plans that nations have submitted so far to curb emissions over the next decade, they estimated that the world was on track to heat up roughly 2.7 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels by 2100. That is both an improvement over where things stood a decade ago and also far off track. To limit warming to just 1.5 degrees Celsius, the UN said, global emissions from fossil fuels need to plummet by roughly half between 2010 and 2030. Instead, emissions are set to rise over that period. “Recent climate action announcements might give the impression that we are on track to turn things around,” Guterres said last week. “This is an illusion.” On Thursday, however, the International Energy Agency offered a more hopeful picture. If you factor in some of the longer term, less-detailed promises that countries made last week — including pledges to reach net zero emissions by most of the world’s biggest economies, as well as the global agreement to cut methane — then the world could potentially keep warming to as low as 1.8 degrees Celsius by 2100. “I certainly never thought we’d get to next Friday confidently on track to 1.5 degrees, but if we can break the 2-degree barrier, I think psychologically that will be huge and maybe give us more of a collective belief that we can go faster,” said Nigel Topping, chosen by the UN as its “high-level climate action champion.” Yet many environmentalists remained sceptical of the International Energy Agency’s projection. “It’s assuming that countries like Australia and Saudi Arabia will get there by 2050, simply because they’ve said they will,” said Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace International. “When in reality they haven’t put in place the funding or policies to make this happen.” One issue being debated this week is whether countries should have to come back to the UN more frequently, perhaps annually, with stronger short-term pledges to cut emissions. At the moment, governments are not expected to submit new plans until 2025. “That’s a bit too late for many countries to strengthen their pledges for this decade, since they’ll have built a lot of fossil-fuel infrastructure by then and will have locked in additional emissions,” said Jennifer Tollmann, an analyst for E3G, a climate research group. Sabra Ibrahim Noordeen is the climate envoy for the Maldives, an archipelago of low-lying islands in the Indian Ocean that has been inhabited for thousands of years but could be inundated within three generations because of rising seas. She said countries like hers were depending on the summit to get it right. “Please get us to 1.5,” she said. Even more contentious is the question of money, which has long been a big sticking point in global climate talks. A decade ago, the world’s wealthiest nations pledged $100 billion per year by 2020 to help poorer countries transition to cleaner energy and protect themselves against the growing dangers from heat waves, floods, droughts and wildfires as the planet heats up. So far, those promises have not been met. By one estimate, wealthy countries are still falling short by tens of billions of dollars per year. And critics have said that even this money has been poorly targeted. A large fraction of aid to date has been handed out as loans, which developing countries often struggle to repay. And only a sliver of financing has gone toward efforts to adapt to climate change. As the dangers from extreme weather rise, vulnerable countries say their financial needs are soaring. Sonam P. Wangdi, who leads a bloc of 47 nations known as the Least Developed Countries, pointed out that his home country of Bhutan bears little responsibility for global warming, since the nation currently absorbs more carbon dioxide from its vast forests than it emits from its cars and homes. Nonetheless, Bhutan faces severe risks from rising temperatures, with melting glaciers in the Himalayas already creating flash floods and mudslides that have devastated villages. “We have contributed the least to this problem yet we suffer disproportionately,” Wangdi said. “There must be increasing support for adapting to impacts.” At the same time, vulnerable countries are arguing for a separate funding mechanism to help compensate them for disasters that they cannot adapt to, often referred to as “loss and damage.” But that proposal faces opposition from wealthier countries, which fear it could open the door to future compensation claims. “So far the progress here is disappointing, and in a way frightening,” Wangdi said. “Our lives depend on decisions made here in Glasgow.” Outside the conference center over the weekend, tens of thousands of protesters marched in lashing rains and bitter winds to urge countries to take more forceful measures to combat climate change. In an interview on the sidelines of the conference, former Vice President Al Gore said that he sympathized with protesters. “God bless them, it’s a needed element for this whole process,” Gore said. “That absolutely keeps the pressure on.” But Gore added that the Glasgow summit was “already a success,” saying that “the direction of travel is toward net-zero,” and that was encouraging. Others argued that it was simplistic to expect a single conference to solve global warming. The Paris Agreement was intended to add transparency to countries’ climate plans and ratchet up pressure on world leaders to do more. But ultimately, the real test would be whether policymakers and businesses and activists make that vision a reality back home. “The day after Glasgow ends, there’s still going to be a lot of work to do,” said Kaveh Guilanpour, a vice president at the Center for Energy and Climate Solutions who has worked as a negotiator for various parties at past summits. “A new agreement could set the foundations for what comes next, but it’s up to all of us to maintain pressure after that. The problem is not going to be fixed in one go.” “We may not really know how successful Glasgow was,” he added, “until a couple of years down the road.”

Can Glasgow deliver on a global climate deal?

Few states support climate action as enthusiastically as California. But the Golden State isn’t sending a governor to the U.N. climate change summit this year. Gov. Gavin Newsom is not going, and neither are his predecessors in the office. That’s both unusual and a little telling.

Jerry Brown, who is chair of the California-China Climate Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, was the toast of the town at the 2015 Paris climate conference and again in 2017 in Bonn, Germany, when Donald Trump, the president at the time, was a no-show. Arnold Schwarzenegger has gone to three climate summits, two of them after he had termed out. In 2009, The Guardian reported that he arrived at the Copenhagen summit “with 10 men in black with wires sprouting from their ears, a phalanx of cameramen and a perma-tan.”

Newsom — a father of four young children — skipped Madrid in 2019, stayed home with the rest of the world in 2020 when that summit was cancelled and announced Friday that this year, because of “family obligations,” he would be a virtual participant only. Earlier, he had said that he and his wife would attend the 12-day gathering to promote California’s progress in phasing out gasoline-powered vehicles and other climate policies.

So has California cooled on global warming summits?

The state is still sending nearly two dozen lawmakers and environmental officials to Glasgow, Scotland, for the talks, known as the 26th session of the Conference of Parties, or COP26. The California delegation will be led by the lieutenant governor, Eleni Kounalakis, who served during the Obama administration as the U.S. ambassador to Hungary.

But for many environmental experts in the state, COP has become an annual reminder that the summit is geared toward nations, not “subnational” governments like California’s — and that conventions alone won’t fix global warming.

“I’ve got to be honest, I’ve been working on climate policy my entire adult life and I don’t think people should waste much time on these international meetings,” said Danny Cullenward, a Stanford-trained energy economist and lawyer who directs policy at CarbonPlan, a nonprofit that evaluates climate programs. “They’re a forum, and important things can and will happen there, but those things are brought to the forum by the countries and other actors who participate. They’re not crafted and distributed from the meeting out to the rest of the world.”

Cullenward said the summit had become emblematic of the failure of governments — including California’s — to deliver near-term progress.

California’s tough standards on clean electricity and auto emissions have been major success stories in curbing greenhouse gas pollution, and the state has committed to a 40% reduction in emissions by the end of this decade. An aggressive executive order by Newsom bans new gas-powered car and truck sales starting in 2035, and recent regulatory actions aim to ban new permits for fracking and new oil and gas drilling near schools, homes and health facilities over the next few years.

But the state’s working goal for full carbon neutrality is not statutorily binding and not set to happen until 2045, long past the point of political accountability for most current officeholders. Environmentalists and legislators have complained that the state climate regulator has focused on that long-term date in its planning process, potentially to the detriment of near-term actions. Meanwhile, the planet is warming, and California is being slammed by climate-driven wildfires, floods, megadroughts and blistering heat waves.

“People love to pledge targets,” Cullenward said. “The problem is, we focus too much on the pledging and not enough on the getting it done.”

Brown and Schwarzenegger are impatient, too.

Last week, at a conference organized by state air quality regulators, Schwarzenegger said that the COP summit’s emphasis on the long view had distracted from the immediate need to stop polluting.

“What does a promise and a pledge mean in the end?” he said. “Nothing. It’s just over and over, year after year, they make these pledges and they come out to declare victory, but then nothing is getting done.”

Schwarzenegger will participate this week in a virtual chat on climate and the economy with a co-founder of LinkedIn, one of the summit’s corporate attendees, according to a spokesman, and may appear at a climate-related event at the Schwarzenegger Institute at the University of Southern California.

In an interview, Brown said he was staying home because the state’s delegation was already “robust” and because he had stopped travelling out of state during the coronavirus pandemic. California, he said, will play an important role in Glasgow because nations need state and local governments to help them reach their targets.

However, he agreed on the need for action.

“This is a moment to bite the bullet, not gum the marshmallow,” Brown said. “This is an existential threat.”

Few states support climate action as enthusiastically as California. But the Golden State isn’t sending a governor to the U.N. climate change summit this year. Gov.

Few states support climate action as enthusiastically as California. But the Golden State isn’t sending a governor to the U.N. climate change summit this year. Gov. Gavin Newsom is not going, and neither are his predecessors in the office. That’s both unusual and a little telling. Jerry Brown, who is chair of the California-China Climate Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, was the toast of the town at the 2015 Paris climate conference and again in 2017 in Bonn, Germany, when Donald Trump, the president at the time, was a no-show. Arnold Schwarzenegger has gone to three climate summits, two of them after he had termed out. In 2009, The Guardian reported that he arrived at the Copenhagen summit “with 10 men in black with wires sprouting from their ears, a phalanx of cameramen and a perma-tan.” Newsom — a father of four young children — skipped Madrid in 2019, stayed home with the rest of the world in 2020 when that summit was cancelled and announced Friday that this year, because of “family obligations,” he would be a virtual participant only. Earlier, he had said that he and his wife would attend the 12-day gathering to promote California’s progress in phasing out gasoline-powered vehicles and other climate policies. So has California cooled on global warming summits? The state is still sending nearly two dozen lawmakers and environmental officials to Glasgow, Scotland, for the talks, known as the 26th session of the Conference of Parties, or COP26. The California delegation will be led by the lieutenant governor, Eleni Kounalakis, who served during the Obama administration as the U.S. ambassador to Hungary. But for many environmental experts in the state, COP has become an annual reminder that the summit is geared toward nations, not “subnational” governments like California’s — and that conventions alone won’t fix global warming. “I’ve got to be honest, I’ve been working on climate policy my entire adult life and I don’t think people should waste much time on these international meetings,” said Danny Cullenward, a Stanford-trained energy economist and lawyer who directs policy at CarbonPlan, a nonprofit that evaluates climate programs. “They’re a forum, and important things can and will happen there, but those things are brought to the forum by the countries and other actors who participate. They’re not crafted and distributed from the meeting out to the rest of the world.” Cullenward said the summit had become emblematic of the failure of governments — including California’s — to deliver near-term progress. California’s tough standards on clean electricity and auto emissions have been major success stories in curbing greenhouse gas pollution, and the state has committed to a 40% reduction in emissions by the end of this decade. An aggressive executive order by Newsom bans new gas-powered car and truck sales starting in 2035, and recent regulatory actions aim to ban new permits for fracking and new oil and gas drilling near schools, homes and health facilities over the next few years. But the state’s working goal for full carbon neutrality is not statutorily binding and not set to happen until 2045, long past the point of political accountability for most current officeholders. Environmentalists and legislators have complained that the state climate regulator has focused on that long-term date in its planning process, potentially to the detriment of near-term actions. Meanwhile, the planet is warming, and California is being slammed by climate-driven wildfires, floods, megadroughts and blistering heat waves. “People love to pledge targets,” Cullenward said. “The problem is, we focus too much on the pledging and not enough on the getting it done.” Brown and Schwarzenegger are impatient, too. Last week, at a conference organized by state air quality regulators, Schwarzenegger said that the COP summit’s emphasis on the long view had distracted from the immediate need to stop polluting. “What does a promise and a pledge mean in the end?” he said. “Nothing. It’s just over and over, year after year, they make these pledges and they come out to declare victory, but then nothing is getting done.” Schwarzenegger will participate this week in a virtual chat on climate and the economy with a co-founder of LinkedIn, one of the summit’s corporate attendees, according to a spokesman, and may appear at a climate-related event at the Schwarzenegger Institute at the University of Southern California. In an interview, Brown said he was staying home because the state’s delegation was already “robust” and because he had stopped travelling out of state during the coronavirus pandemic. California, he said, will play an important role in Glasgow because nations need state and local governments to help them reach their targets. However, he agreed on the need for action. “This is a moment to bite the bullet, not gum the marshmallow,” Brown said. “This is an existential threat.”

Are global warming summits still cool?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow on Monday, emphasising India's commitment to combat climate change.

PM Modi made many big pledges during his National Statement at the COP26 Summit, including attaining net-zero carbon emissions by 2070 and promoting renewable energy sources.&nbsp; 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/pm-modi-surprises-the-climate-summit-by-announcing-indias-goal-of-reaching-net-zero-emissions-by-2070-425933">Also read | PM Modi surprises the climate summit by announcing India's goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2070</a>

Here's a look at some of the key takeaways from the prime minister's speech at the Summit:

1: New mantra —&nbsp;LIFE

PM Modi delivered a new motto for long-term growth in his address. He stated that 'LIFE,' or Lifestyle for the Environment, might serve as a basis for the same.

"Today's world acknowledges that lifestyle has a significant influence on climate change. In front of you all, I propose a one-word revolution. This is the term LIFE, which stands for "Lifestyle for the Environment."

To ensure a harmonious living with the environment, Lifestyle For Environment is influenced by Indian culture, Gandhi's teachings, and the prime minister's personal life. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-will-reduce-emissions-by-50-52-below-2005-levels-by-2030-says-biden-at-cop26-425923">Also Read:&nbsp;US will reduce emissions by 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030, says Biden&nbsp;</a>

This, like previous popular initiatives inspired by the prime minister, encourages intentional and conscious consumption rather than unthinking and harmful consumption.&nbsp;

2: Climate finance and tech transfer as an imperative

The prime minister sent a strong message to rich nations, saying that, just as India has increased its ambition in establishing objectives, they must do likewise in climate funding and technology transfer.

With previous climate finance objectives, the world would not be able to accomplish newer ones, he warned.&nbsp; 
 
"India expects developed countries to make $1 trillion available as climate finance as soon as possible. As we track the progress of climate mitigation, we must also track climate finance. Justice would truly be served if pressure is put on those countries that have not lived up to their climate finance commitments," Modi said.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Delivering the National Statement at the <a href="https://twitter.com/COP26?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@COP26</a> Summit in Glasgow. <a href="https://t.co/SdKi5LBQNM">https://t.co/SdKi5LBQNM</a>
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1455213594577027073?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2021</a></blockquote>
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3: Net-zero carbon emissions by 2070

India will reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, according to Prime Minister Modi.

Not contributing to the quantity of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is known as net-zero, or being carbon neutral.

Modi has made a historic step in demonstrating India's commitment to combating climate change.

Despite its status as a developing country, India leads the way in terms of environmental protection.&nbsp;

4: Encourage the use of renewable energy

PM Modi claims that India's ambition to achieve 450 GW of installed capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030 was considered overly ambitious.

India is now not only on course to meet this goal, but has also opted to increase it to 500 GW.

India has also committed to sourcing 50% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030.

5: India's contribution to climate change

PM Modi stated that despite having roughly 17% of the world's population, India is only responsible for about 5% of global emissions.

6: 'Panchamrit' to deal with the problem of climate change

He also outlined his five-point agenda, which he dubbed the five 'Amrit tattva' (nectar ingredients), to cope with the problem of climate change when speaking at the COP26 meeting.

"Amid this global brainstorming on climate change, on behalf of India, I would like to present five nectar elements, Panchamrit, to deal with this challenge," Modi said.

7:&nbsp;&nbsp;Reducing carbon emissions and intensity: India not only commits but also acts

PM Modi announced that India will reduce one billion tonnes of carbon emissions from the total projected emissions by 2030. India will also reduce carbon intensity in its economy by 45%.PM Modi shared how India is the only country to fulfil commitments made in Paris. He also spoke about how Paris was not only a summit but a sentiment and a commitment of 1.30 billion Indians.

8. Multi-faceted initiatives in India to mitigate climate change

PM Modi shared how a new India is fighting climate change. From the world's largest railway carrier achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 to saving 40 billion tonnes of emissions through LEDs, India is putting climate change at the centre of its policies.

(With inputs from agencies)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow on Monday, emphasising India's commitment to combat climate change. PM Modi made many big pledges during his National Statement at the COP26 Summit, including attaining net-zero carbon emissions by 2070 and promoting renewable energy sources.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow on Monday, emphasising India's commitment to combat climate change. PM Modi made many big pledges during his National Statement at the COP26 Summit, including attaining net-zero carbon emissions by 2070 and promoting renewable energy sources. Also read | PM Modi surprises the climate summit by announcing India's goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2070 Here's a look at some of the key takeaways from the prime minister's speech at the Summit: 1: New mantra — LIFE PM Modi delivered a new motto for long-term growth in his address. He stated that 'LIFE,' or Lifestyle for the Environment, might serve as a basis for the same. "Today's world acknowledges that lifestyle has a significant influence on climate change. In front of you all, I propose a one-word revolution. This is the term LIFE, which stands for "Lifestyle for the Environment." To ensure a harmonious living with the environment, Lifestyle For Environment is influenced by Indian culture, Gandhi's teachings, and the prime minister's personal life. Also Read: US will reduce emissions by 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030, says Biden This, like previous popular initiatives inspired by the prime minister, encourages intentional and conscious consumption rather than unthinking and harmful consumption. 2: Climate finance and tech transfer as an imperative The prime minister sent a strong message to rich nations, saying that, just as India has increased its ambition in establishing objectives, they must do likewise in climate funding and technology transfer. With previous climate finance objectives, the world would not be able to accomplish newer ones, he warned. "India expects developed countries to make $1 trillion available as climate finance as soon as possible. As we track the progress of climate mitigation, we must also track climate finance. Justice would truly be served if pressure is put on those countries that have not lived up to their climate finance commitments," Modi said. Delivering the National Statement at the @COP26 Summit in Glasgow. https://t.co/SdKi5LBQNM — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 1, 2021 × 3: Net-zero carbon emissions by 2070 India will reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, according to Prime Minister Modi. Not contributing to the quantity of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is known as net-zero, or being carbon neutral. Modi has made a historic step in demonstrating India's commitment to combating climate change. Despite its status as a developing country, India leads the way in terms of environmental protection. 4: Encourage the use of renewable energy PM Modi claims that India's ambition to achieve 450 GW of installed capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030 was considered overly ambitious. India is now not only on course to meet this goal, but has also opted to increase it to 500 GW. India has also committed to sourcing 50% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. 5: India's contribution to climate change PM Modi stated that despite having roughly 17% of the world's population, India is only responsible for about 5% of global emissions. 6: 'Panchamrit' to deal with the problem of climate change He also outlined his five-point agenda, which he dubbed the five 'Amrit tattva' (nectar ingredients), to cope with the problem of climate change when speaking at the COP26 meeting. "Amid this global brainstorming on climate change, on behalf of India, I would like to present five nectar elements, Panchamrit, to deal with this challenge," Modi said. 7: Reducing carbon emissions and intensity: India not only commits but also acts PM Modi announced that India will reduce one billion tonnes of carbon emissions from the total projected emissions by 2030. India will also reduce carbon intensity in its economy by 45%.PM Modi shared how India is the only country to fulfil commitments made in Paris. He also spoke about how Paris was not only a summit but a sentiment and a commitment of 1.30 billion Indians. 8. Multi-faceted initiatives in India to mitigate climate change PM Modi shared how a new India is fighting climate change. From the world's largest railway carrier achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 to saving 40 billion tonnes of emissions through LEDs, India is putting climate change at the centre of its policies. (With inputs from agencies)

'LIFE' to 'net zero emissions: Key takeaways from PM Modi's historic COP26 speech

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing the UN climate change summit or COP26 said, "a country like India which is 17 per cent of the world population is responsible for less than 5 per cent of emission."

"Today, the entire world admits that India is the only major economy which has delivered on the Paris agreement&nbsp;in letter and spirit," he said.

&nbsp;"By 2070, India will achieve the target of net-zero emissions," PM Modi told leaders at COP26.

India's prime minister said the country is ranked No-4 in installed renewable energy and in the past five years there has been a &nbsp;25 per cent reduction in fossil fuel.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-will-reduce-emissions-by-50-52-below-2005-levels-by-2030-says-biden-at-cop26-425923">Also Read:&nbsp;US will reduce emissions by 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030, says Biden&nbsp;</a>

"For me, the event in Paris was not a summit, it was a sentiment, it was a commitment," he said, adding, "India was not making those promises to the world, but 125 crore Indians, were making them to themselves."

"We know the reality that promises made so far over climate finance have proven to be hollow," India's prime minister pointed out.

"When are taking forward our ambition regarding climate action, the ambitions of the world over climate finance can't keep standing at the point where they were at the time of Paris agreement," he said.

"India Railway has set a target of net-zero emission by 2030," he said.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The <a href="https://twitter.com/COP26?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@COP26</a> Summit offers a wonderful opportunity to interact with various world leaders. 
 
In a short while, I will be delivering the National Statement at the Summit. <a href="https://t.co/25l4SqnHBH">pic.twitter.com/25l4SqnHBH</a>
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1455199732511514624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2021</a></blockquote>
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"At this global brainstorming on climate change, I present five amrit tatva&nbsp;from India. I gift this panchamrit," he said.

"First, India will bring its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030. Second, by 2030 India will fulfil 50 per cent of its energy requirement through renewable energy," he added.

"World today admits that lifestyle has a major role in climate change," he said," he said adding, "this word is life which means lifestyle for the environment. Today, it's needed that all of us come together and take forward life as a movement," he asserted.

"I came with concern for humanity&nbsp;as a representative of a culture that gave the message of Sarve Sukhinah Bhavantu," he explained.

India's prime minister said the country will reduce the total projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes by 2030 also by 2030, it will reduce the carbon intensity of its economy to less than 45 per cent.

"Today when India has resolved to move forward with a new commitment and new energy, then the climate finance and transfer of low-cost technology transfer has become even more important," PM Modi told the leaders present at the summit.

"Instead of mindless and destructive consumption, mindful and&nbsp;deliberate utilisation is the need of the hour," he said.

"This movement can bring in revolutionary changes in areas like agriculture, fishing, housing, packaging, hospitality, tourism, fashion, water management and energy," PM Modi added.

India's prime minister informed that the country's&nbsp;Railway has set a target of net-zero emission by 2030.&nbsp;

"It would be an appropriate justice to create pressure on the nations that don't meet their own promises of climate finance," he said while adding, "India expects developed nations to make climate finance of $1 trillion available at the earliest."&nbsp;

"Today it's important to track climate finance just like we track the progress of climate mitigation."&nbsp;

"Climate change is a major threat to existence to many developing countries. We must take major steps to save the world. It is the need of the hour and&nbsp;will prove the relevance of this platform," PM Modi said.

"I'm hopeful that decisions taken in Glasgow will save the future of our next generations," he said. 
&nbsp;

(With inputs from Agencies)

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing the UN climate change summit or COP26 said, "a country like India which is 17 per cent of the world population is responsible for less than 5 per cent of emission.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing the UN climate change summit or COP26 said, "a country like India which is 17 per cent of the world population is responsible for less than 5 per cent of emission." "Today, the entire world admits that India is the only major economy which has delivered on the Paris agreement in letter and spirit," he said. "By 2070, India will achieve the target of net-zero emissions," PM Modi told leaders at COP26. India's prime minister said the country is ranked No-4 in installed renewable energy and in the past five years there has been a 25 per cent reduction in fossil fuel. Also Read: US will reduce emissions by 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030, says Biden "For me, the event in Paris was not a summit, it was a sentiment, it was a commitment," he said, adding, "India was not making those promises to the world, but 125 crore Indians, were making them to themselves." "We know the reality that promises made so far over climate finance have proven to be hollow," India's prime minister pointed out. "When are taking forward our ambition regarding climate action, the ambitions of the world over climate finance can't keep standing at the point where they were at the time of Paris agreement," he said. "India Railway has set a target of net-zero emission by 2030," he said. The @COP26 Summit offers a wonderful opportunity to interact with various world leaders. In a short while, I will be delivering the National Statement at the Summit. pic.twitter.com/25l4SqnHBH — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 1, 2021 × "At this global brainstorming on climate change, I present five amrit tatva from India. I gift this panchamrit," he said. "First, India will bring its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030. Second, by 2030 India will fulfil 50 per cent of its energy requirement through renewable energy," he added. "World today admits that lifestyle has a major role in climate change," he said," he said adding, "this word is life which means lifestyle for the environment. Today, it's needed that all of us come together and take forward life as a movement," he asserted. "I came with concern for humanity as a representative of a culture that gave the message of Sarve Sukhinah Bhavantu," he explained. India's prime minister said the country will reduce the total projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes by 2030 also by 2030, it will reduce the carbon intensity of its economy to less than 45 per cent. "Today when India has resolved to move forward with a new commitment and new energy, then the climate finance and transfer of low-cost technology transfer has become even more important," PM Modi told the leaders present at the summit. "Instead of mindless and destructive consumption, mindful and deliberate utilisation is the need of the hour," he said. "This movement can bring in revolutionary changes in areas like agriculture, fishing, housing, packaging, hospitality, tourism, fashion, water management and energy," PM Modi added. India's prime minister informed that the country's Railway has set a target of net-zero emission by 2030. "It would be an appropriate justice to create pressure on the nations that don't meet their own promises of climate finance," he said while adding, "India expects developed nations to make climate finance of $1 trillion available at the earliest." "Today it's important to track climate finance just like we track the progress of climate mitigation." "Climate change is a major threat to existence to many developing countries. We must take major steps to save the world. It is the need of the hour and will prove the relevance of this platform," PM Modi said. "I'm hopeful that decisions taken in Glasgow will save the future of our next generations," he said. (With inputs from Agencies)

PM Modi surprises the climate summit by announcing India's goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2070

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first engagement at the United Nations was at UN Climate Action Summit during which he called for a global movement to bring about change saying "<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/live-pm-modi-at-un-to-address-climate-change-summit-251536">time for talk&nbsp;is over, the world needs to act now</a>".

"What is needed is a comprehensive approach that covers education, lifestyle, development strategy. We need global people's movement to bring about change," the Indian prime minister told the UN climate change summit.

"We believe that an ounce of practice is worth more than a ton of preaching," PM Modi asserted.

Talking about India's climate change policies, PM Modi said: "Respect for nature is part of the tradition and need and not greed."

Watch Video:

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He highlighted how India is increasing its renewable energy in its overall energy basket and aims to "increase its renewable energy capacity to 175 GW by 2022".

The prime minister called for people's movement to end the usage of "single-use plastic" in India, saying, "this will create awareness at the global level against single-use plastic". PM from his Independence day speech earlier this year had called for ending use of single-use plastics.

"We have started the jal jeevan mission for water conservation, rain water harvesting and for the development of water resources," he said, adding,"India is going to spend $50 million on this."

PM Modi was the third speaker at the climate change summit, after Prime Miniter of New Zealand and President of Marshall Islands.

PM Modi will be inaugurating the Gandhi Solar Park at the United Nations headquarters on Tuesday as part of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi celebrations. The park has 193 solar panels, one for each member country of the United Nations.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump made an appearance at the UN Climate Change summit. He entered the room even as Prime Minister Modi was speaking. US President Trump, who is known for not to be keen on climate action policies, had initially planned to skip the event.

PM Modi also spoke at the United Nations health care summit saying the focus has been on preventive health care, affordable health care, strengthening medical infrastructure and Mission Mode Intervention.

The Indian prime minister highlighted how electronic cigarettes have been banned in India and the country's aim to eradicate TB by 2025. &nbsp;

Modi said New Delhi is helping the international community in health care especially Africa with telemedicine and India's "experience is available for all developing nations". 
&nbsp;

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first engagement at the United Nations was at UN Climate Action Summit during which he called for a global movement to bring about change saying "time for talk is over, the world needs to act now".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first engagement at the United Nations was at UN Climate Action Summit during which he called for a global movement to bring about change saying "time for talk is over, the world needs to act now". "What is needed is a comprehensive approach that covers education, lifestyle, development strategy. We need global people's movement to bring about change," the Indian prime minister told the UN climate change summit. "We believe that an ounce of practice is worth more than a ton of preaching," PM Modi asserted. Talking about India's climate change policies, PM Modi said: "Respect for nature is part of the tradition and need and not greed." Watch Video: He highlighted how India is increasing its renewable energy in its overall energy basket and aims to "increase its renewable energy capacity to 175 GW by 2022". The prime minister called for people's movement to end the usage of "single-use plastic" in India, saying, "this will create awareness at the global level against single-use plastic". PM from his Independence day speech earlier this year had called for ending use of single-use plastics. "We have started the jal jeevan mission for water conservation, rain water harvesting and for the development of water resources," he said, adding,"India is going to spend $50 million on this." PM Modi was the third speaker at the climate change summit, after Prime Miniter of New Zealand and President of Marshall Islands. PM Modi will be inaugurating the Gandhi Solar Park at the United Nations headquarters on Tuesday as part of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi celebrations. The park has 193 solar panels, one for each member country of the United Nations. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump made an appearance at the UN Climate Change summit. He entered the room even as Prime Minister Modi was speaking. US President Trump, who is known for not to be keen on climate action policies, had initially planned to skip the event. PM Modi also spoke at the United Nations health care summit saying the focus has been on preventive health care, affordable health care, strengthening medical infrastructure and Mission Mode Intervention. The Indian prime minister highlighted how electronic cigarettes have been banned in India and the country's aim to eradicate TB by 2025. Modi said New Delhi is helping the international community in health care especially Africa with telemedicine and India's "experience is available for all developing nations".

Time for talk is over, world needs to act now: PM Modi at UN Climate Change Summit

United Nations special envoy was in India, he took a short ride on an electric rickshaw and appreciated India's efforts for climate change. Watch our report to know more.