September 8

I NDIAN Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Thursday that leaders of the G20 summit he is chairing this weekend must support developing nations to tackle climate change with more cash and by sharing technology.

Against a backdrop of record-breaking temperatures and deadly heatwaves across the globe, climate scientists and activists have warned of dire consequences -- particularly for developing countries -- if leaders fail to forge a consensus.

Modi has pitched India as a selfstyled leader of the “Global South”, a bridge between developed and developing countries.

“Many countries of the Global South are at various stages of development and climate action must be a complementary pursuit,” Modi wrote in an editorial carried by several Indian outlets as well as international dailies including in Britain and Japan.

Globally, wealthy nations missed their pledge to provide, by 2020, $100 billion a year in climate finance to poorer nations, eroding trust that polluters will help vulnerable countries least responsible for warming to tackle the challenges of climate change.

The Group of 20, which will meet in New Delhi this weekend, consists of 19 countries and the European Union, making up about 85 per cent of global GDP, and a similar amount of its carbon emissions. “Ambitions for climate action must be matched with actions on climate finance and transfer of technology,” Modi added. — AFP