'India's INDC to reflect adaptation as well as mitigation'

India today said that it will present a "comprehensive" plan to combat climate change unlike most other countries whose 'Intended Nationally Determined Contributions' (INDCs) reflect only mitigation measures.
Ahead of the crucial UN climate change summit in Paris later this year, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said India is in the "advanced" stage of submitting its INDCs which will reflect all the elements of adaptation, mitigation, finance, technology and capacity building.
Addressing reporters here, the Union Minister also said that the "historical responsibility" of various developed nations cannot be "wished away" and hinted that it would continue to urge them to meet their obligation for providing finance and technology.

"We are at an advanced stage of preparing our INDC. For the last eight months, we have been engaged in this exercise and widest consultations have taken place with all ministries, state governments, research institutes, industry, think tanks and many organisations.
"Our INDCs will be comprehensive. Many countries which have submitted their INDCs talk only about mitigation. But the world has now accepted that mitigation and adaptation both carry same importance.
"We have created two templates for it. All elements will be part of our INDCs - mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology and capacity building," Javadekar said but refused to specify a date on which India will declare its INDC.

He added that this was the mandate of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and India's INDC will reflect this mandate. "We are submitting it in due course. We will declare it appropriately," he said.

Asked whether India will also declare its peaking year like China, the minister said that no nation has yet asked India about this as historically, India has just 2.4 per cent of world's cumulative emissions as of today.
When asked what kind of coordination has India been doing with China on climate change, Javadekar said that there is cohesiveness of views between both the countries.

"The joint statement during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to China speaks of how we agree on practically all issues on climate change. Its a comprehensive statement. That is the guiding force of dialogues between India and China," he said.