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India will submit its revised Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) through 2035 and its first Biennial Transparency Report (BTR) in line with Paris Agreement requirements, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav announced at the COP30 High-Level Segment in Belém on November 17. The disclosure marks a significant step in India’s long-term climate planning as negotiators enter a decisive week aimed at finalising the Belém Package.
NDCs, at the heart of the Paris Agreement and the achievement of its long-term goals, embody efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change, and those are submitted every five years to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat. So far, over 100 of 198 UNFCCC countries have submitted their third round of NDCs.
In the case of BTR, it provides a common, transparent framework for all countries to report on their climate actions under the Paris Agreement, which helps build trust and confidence between nations and helps mobilise financial and technological support for climate action. It also provides detailed information on a country’s greenhouse gas emissions, climate adaptation efforts, and the support it has received or needs, creating a unified, standardised system for reporting that allows for international comparison and accountability. BTRs also serve as a crucial tool for domestic planning, helping countries identify gaps, share best practices, and inform future climate policies.
Delivering India’s National Statement, Yadav urged that COP30 be remembered as a “COP of Implementation” and a “COP of Delivery on Promises,” marking 10 years since the Paris Agreement and a moment he said must shift global focus from commitments to concrete action. Thanking Brazil for hosting the summit “in the heart of the Amazon,” he called the region a “living symbol of our planet’s ecological wealth” and a fitting location for a COP that seeks to restore climate ambition, equity and multilateral trust.
COP30 comes amid intense pressure on the global climate regime. The first Global Stocktake in 2023 exposed deep shortfalls in emission cuts, finance flows and resilience measures. The world remains off track to limit warming to 1.5°C, and developing countries have repeatedly highlighted finance gaps, rising debt distress and the inadequacy of existing multilateral support structures.
In this context, India — representing the Global South’s largest democracy and one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies — has positioned itself as a bridge-builder advocating climate justice, equitable pathways and technological democratisation. Its statement in Belém builds on earlier G20 and COP negotiations where India has pushed for expanded climate finance, concessional capital, and recognition of differentiated responsibilities.
Yadav delivered a sharply worded appeal to developed countries, insisting they “must reach net zero far earlier than current target dates” to preserve global carbon space for developing economies. He reiterated India’s position that climate finance must move from “billions to trillions,” calling for new, additional and concessional funding and noting that restrictive intellectual property regimes continue to hamper access to climate technologies.
The demand reflects growing frustration among developing nations after repeated shortfalls in the $100 billion annual finance pledge and slow progress on the New Collective Quantified Goal, which is expected to define the future climate finance architecture.
Yadav detailed India’s climate achievements, emphasising that development and environmental stewardship can advance in tandem. India has reduced emission intensity by over 36 per cent since 2005, and non-fossil sources now account for more than half of its total power capacity. With 256 gigawatt (GW) of non-fossil energy, India met its 2030 NDC target five years ahead of schedule.
He pointed to India’s major energy missions — including the International Solar Alliance, Global Biofuel Alliance, the Nuclear Mission and the Green Hydrogen Mission — as evidence of its expanding global climate leadership. Additionally, India planted over two billion plants in just 16 months through a massive community-led programme to strengthen natural carbon sinks.
At the High-Level Ministerial Segment on the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA), Yadav broadened India’s climate narrative, arguing that ecological conservation is integral to climate stability. Big cats are “sentinels of ecosystem health,” and that their presence correlates directly with healthier forests, stronger grasslands, stable watersheds and natural carbon storage.
He warned that declines in big cat populations destabilise ecosystems and diminish climate resilience. Positioning big cat landscapes as nature-based climate solutions, he urged countries to integrate such approaches into future NDCs, saying: “What we often call ‘wildlife conservation’ is, in fact, climate action in its most natural form.”
As home to five of the world’s seven big cat species, India highlighted its conservation successes, including doubling its tiger population ahead of schedule and growing its Asiatic lion population. India has built a comprehensive wildlife database and expanded protected areas and corridor networks while engaging local communities in eco-livelihoods.
Yadav noted that 17 countries are formally associated with IBCA, with more than 30 nations expressing interest, and reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of “One Earth, One World, One Future.” He announced that India will host a Global Big Cats Summit in New Delhi in 2026, inviting all countries to collaborate.
Closing his interventions, Yadav said the world stands at a moment of “ecological realignment” that demands solidarity, not competition. “Protecting big cats is protecting our shared planet. Protecting big cats is protecting our future,” he declared, calling for the coming decade to be defined by implementation, resilience and shared responsibility.