Indian envoy discusses climate change commitments with US Senator Jeff Merkley

India's ambassador to the United States Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Wednesday (local time) met Jeff Merkley, an American Senator from Oregon, and discussed ways to address climate change through innovation.

"Great to meet @SenJeffMerkley and talk about our shared objectives of green sustainable development and addressing climate change through innovation; great potential for cooperation," the ambassador said on Twitter.

The meeting of 25th Conference of Parties (COP) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is underway in the Spanish capital of Madrid. The UN summit started from December 2 and will continue till December 13 under the presidency of Chile.

India looks forward to engaging in negotiations with a constructive and positive outlook and work towards protecting its long-term development interests.

CoP 25 is an important conference as countries prepare to move from the pre-2020 period under the Kyoto Protocol to the post-2020 period under the Paris Agreement.

India's approach will be guided by principles and provisions of UNFCCC and Paris Agreement particularly the principles of Equity and Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capability (CBDR-RC).

The Indian delegation, led by Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, will focus on working towards protecting the long-term development interests towards climate protection, a statement said.

India's leadership on climate change has been evident and well recognised across the globe. The Government of India has been undertaking several initiatives to address climate change concerns under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi which also reflect the country's commitment and ambition towards climate action, the statement read.

During the Climate Action Summit convened by United Nations Secretary-General in September, Modi had announced India's plan on scaling up of renewable energy target to 450 GW and called for responsible action by all on the principles of equity and CBDR-RC.

India has been leading the world in its pursuit of enhanced solar energy capacity through International Solar Alliance (ISA).

India has been ambitious in its actions and has emphasised that developed countries should take lead in undertaking ambitious actions and fulfil their climate finance commitments of mobilising USD 100 billion per annum by 2020.

During the CoP 25 meeting, India will further stress upon the need for fulfilling pre-2020 commitments by developed countries and that pre-2020 implementation gaps should not present an additional burden to developing countries in the post-2020 period, the statement added.