India's Stand for COP31: Against the EU's Carbon Border Tax, No Fossil Fuel Phase-Out, Focus on Climate Finance
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change set out India's position for COP31, the annual UN climate conference, to be held in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026. The leaders' summit is on 11 and 12 November.
India said it will keep opposing one-sided trade barriers such as the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), a charge on the carbon released while making goods like steel, aluminium and cement that enter the EU.
India said it will not support any move to phase out fossil fuels, because it still needs coal, oil and gas to meet the energy needs of its development.
On the COP31 presidency's "35 by 35" goal (raising electricity's share in the world's final energy use from about 20 to 23% today to 35% by 2035), India said such voluntary goals must stay separate from the formal negotiations and must respect each country's national circumstances.
India wants COP31 to start the climate finance work programme. It said finance is a duty of developed countries under the Paris Agreement, and must be predictable, mostly public, low-cost (concessional), and must not add to the debt of poor countries.
India said it will play a "constructive and bridge-building role" and wants the talks to move from promises to actual implementation and support.
Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM): The EU's Carbon Charge on Imports
CBAM is a European Union rule that puts a price on the carbon pollution released while making certain goods abroad, when those goods are brought into the EU. In simple words, it is a carbon charge at the border. The EU already makes its own factories pay for their carbon under its Emissions Trading System (ETS). CBAM asks importers to pay a similar price, so that EU factories are not undercut by cheaper, more polluting imports.
CBAM is now in its paying phase, so the cost to Indian exporters is real. India plans to raise it at COP31 as a one-sided trade barrier that shifts the cost of climate action onto developing countries.
Global Stocktake (Article 14, Paris Agreement)
The Global Stocktake is a regular check-up of the whole world's progress on climate change, created by Article 14 of the Paris Agreement. Every five years, countries look at how far they have come on cutting emissions, adapting to climate change and providing finance, compared with what science says is needed. The result guides the next round of national climate plans (NDCs). The language on fossil fuels that India refers to in debates today comes mainly from the first stocktake.
India's refusal to support a fossil fuel phase-out at COP31 follows the line it took at Glasgow and Dubai. It accepts a gradual, fair transition but not a fixed global deadline to end fossil fuel use, since coal still supplies most of its electricity.
New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on Climate Finance
The New Collective Quantified Goal, or NCQG, is the global target for how much money must flow to developing countries every year to help them fight climate change. It was agreed at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November 2024. It replaced the old promise of USD 100 billion a year. India and many developing countries said the new figure was far too small.
India wants COP31 to actually start the climate finance work programme set up at Belém. It sees this as the way to hold developed countries to their Article 9.1 duty, since the NCQG amount is seen as too low and too dependent on private money and loans.
- COP31: Antalya, Türkiye, 9 to 20 November 2026; leaders' summit 11 to 12 November
- COP31 arrangement: Türkiye hosts and holds the COP presidency; Australia leads the negotiations as "President of Negotiations"
- "35 by 35" goal: electricity's share of global final energy use to rise to 35% by 2035
- CBAM: definitive (paying) phase from 1 January 2026; certificates on sale from February 2027; six sectors covered
- COP28 (Dubai, 2023): "transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems"
- COP26 (Glasgow, 2021): "phasedown of unabated coal power"
- NCQG (COP29, Baku, 2024): USD 300 billion a year by 2035; USD 1.3 trillion a year from all sources by 2035
- COP30 (Belém, 2025): two-year work programme on climate finance including Article 9.1