This was confirmed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman in London on Thursday. “India plays an important role here and the Prime Minister has had several conversations with Modi about the importance of climate change, so we look forward to continuing the discussions with him,” it added.

As the second most populous country in the world, India emits the third highest – after the United States and China. The country’s environment minister Bhupendra Yadav recently emphasized that COP26 should focus on funding and, for example, technology transfer from industrialized countries to developing countries. Developing countries like India are very sensitive to climate change and depend on the support of industrialized countries to implement the Paris Agreement.

India wants to significantly increase its electricity consumption in the next few years, even as all the people of the country do not have access to electricity yet. Renewable energies should become more and more important. However, the country is mainly dependent on coal and is looking to expand its coal capacity in the future. The government argues that it is necessary for the development of the country. Furthermore, per capita emissions in India and other poor countries are much lower than those in rich countries, which in the past relied heavily on dirty energy to develop themselves.