Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said that member countries need to show more flexibility, practicality, and mutual respect to clear up remaining differences and achieve ambitious and balanced results at this year’s UN climate conference, known as COP31. This upcoming climate conference is set to take place in November in Antalya, Turkiye. He shared these views while speaking at a main meeting in Fiji, which is part of the preparatory talks ahead of COP31 that are co-hosted by Australia, Fiji, and Tuvalu, with pre-COP being a planning meeting held a few weeks before the actual event.
Yadav also mentioned that India hopes COP31 will create a clear path forward to boost cooperation, technical help, and focused support for building up skills. He added that India is fully prepared for open and honest talks to solve these challenges leading up to COP31 to guarantee “a balanced, equitable, and historic outcome” for people around the world, especially those most at risk. Furthermore, he highlighted that international climate efforts can be made stronger at COP31 through an open, discussion-based, and agreed-upon approach.
Along with this, Yadav stated that India strongly believes action must respect each country’s own chosen plans, giving every nation the freedom to make changes based on its own specific situation and development needs. The minister pointed out that even though countries share the same global goals, they need to find more common ground on how to reach them. Concluding his remarks, he stated, “The time has come to demonstrate flexibility on all sides.”
