Sat Feb 15 06:57:45 UTC 2025: ## UN Climate Chief Urges India to Develop Ambitious Economy-Wide Climate Plan
**New Delhi, February 15, 2025** – UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell has praised India as a “solar superpower” and urged the nation to formulate a comprehensive climate action plan encompassing its entire economy. Speaking at the ET Global Business Summit, Stiell lauded India’s existing climate mitigation efforts, highlighting its significant solar energy deployment and nationwide electrification achievements.
Stiell emphasized that a stronger commitment to the global clean energy transition would significantly boost India’s economic growth. He noted India’s unique opportunity to become a leader in green industrialization, developing and exporting clean energy technologies. He highlighted India’s potential to deploy hundreds of gigawatts of renewable energy capacity and leverage its position as the world’s fifth-largest economy to reap substantial benefits from ambitious climate policies.
Stiell’s call comes as countries are required to submit updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for the 2031-2035 period. While India, along with many other nations, missed the February 10th deadline, Stiell urged submission by September. An Indian government source confirmed that the country’s new NDCs are not yet finalized, citing the need for adequate financial and technological support from developed nations. The source criticized the insufficient funding offered by developed countries, highlighting the inequity of expecting developing nations, historically less responsible for climate change, to bear the brunt of mitigation efforts.
The insufficient funding, amounting to a paltry $300 billion by 2035 (far short of the required $1.3 trillion annually from 2025), was previously criticized by India as inadequate. India’s Economic Survey 2024-25 also noted that a lack of funding could lead developing countries to revise their climate targets. The ultimate goal remains limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius as per the 2015 Paris Agreement.
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