Modi Says Developing Nations Wrongly Blamed for Emissions as India Touts Early Paris Targets

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that responsibility for carbon emissions had often been "wrongly placed" on developing countries, and stated that India was the only G20 nation to have met every commitment it made at the 2015 Paris climate summit, and to have done so ahead of schedule.

He was speaking at the inauguration of a two-day international conference, "The Future of Environment and Climate Dynamics", organised by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) at Vigyan Bhawan. Jurists, academics, policymakers, scientists and experts from 17 countries are taking part, along with representatives of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Asian Development Bank. The NGT said the aim is to identify gaps in policymaking and implementation and to strengthen cooperation among institutions.

Addressing the gathering in Hindi, Mr. Modi noted that many of those present were from the Global South. "We all know that often the responsibility for carbon emissions has been wrongly placed on developing countries," he said. "But the historical truth is that even today, India's per capita carbon emissions are less than half the global average." Per capita emissions in developed countries, he added, were about six times India's.

The Prime Minister pointed to growth in renewable energy, saying solar capacity had risen from about 2 GW to more than 160 GW in 12 years, and that non-fossil capacity had nearly quadrupled. Defending nuclear energy, he said: "Those who give long speeches on the environment — when I advance nuclear energy work, they will stand in the courts to stop it." A law passed in December 2025, the SHANTI Act, had created a pathway for private players to enter the sector, he said.

What the record shows

Independent assessments support part of the Prime Minister's claim about the Paris pledges. India's first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) contained three quantitative targets. The goals on emissions intensity and on non-fossil installed capacity were both met several years early, with non-fossil sources reaching 52.57% of total capacity by February 2026. The third target — creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5–3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030 through afforestation — is still in progress. India's submission to the United Nations in April 2026 put the additional sink at 2.29 billion tonnes between 2005 and 2021, and said the country is on track.

The dispute over who bears responsibility for emissions turns largely on how they are counted. Per capita emissions are highest in industrialised countries, while cumulative emissions since the industrial revolution — the measure many developing countries cite under the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" — are concentrated among the same group of nations. India is the world's third-largest emitter in absolute annual terms, though its per capita figure remains below the global average.

The global picture remains difficult. UNEP estimates that warming this century would reach 2.3–2.5 degrees Celsius even if all countries implement their NDCs in full, and 2.8 degrees Celsius under current policies. Both exceed the Paris Agreement's goal of holding warming "well below" 2 degrees Celsius while pursuing 1.5 degrees Celsius. UNEP's Limiting Overshoot report, released on September 2, found that warming is set to cross 1.5 degrees Celsius, likely within the next few years, and put the best-case peak at 1.8 degrees Celsius.

The Prime Minister's remarks follow the flash flood in Nepal on August 26, caused by a glacier collapse, in which more than 1,300 people have been confirmed dead. After the disaster, Nepal's Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal told the media that major emitters, including India, bore a historical responsibility to compensate vulnerable nations, describing it as "not a matter of charity". He later said that neither he nor the Nepal government had asked India, China, the United States or any other country for compensation, and that his call was for the global community to view the disaster through a climate lens. Nepal has approached the UN Loss and Damage Fund.