Describe the major outcomes of the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). What are the commitments made by India in this conference ?
Approach · directive: “describe / what”
What it asks · Describe the main outcomes of COP26 (the Glasgow Climate Pact) and state the commitments India announced there.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- Describe the major outcomes of COP26: the Glasgow Climate Pact and related decisions
- State the commitments India made at COP26: the Panchamrit and the demands that went with it
Open with · COP26 in Glasgow, held in November 2021, had to keep the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C goal alive and finish its unfinished rulebook.
Cover
- 1.5°C: countries are asked to revisit and strengthen their 2030 targets by the end of 2022 to align with the Paris temperature goals.
- Coal: first COP text to name coal and fossil-fuel subsidies; 'phase-out' of unabated coal power was softened to 'phase-down' at the last moment.
- Finance: developed countries urged to fulfil the $100 billion a year goal and to at least double adaptation finance by 2025 from 2019 levels.
- Rulebook and loss and damage: Article 6 carbon-market rules and transparency formats finalised; a Glasgow Dialogue on loss and damage created, but no new fund.
- India's Panchamrit: 500 GW of non-fossil capacity and 50% of energy needs from renewables by 2030, and net zero by 2070.
- India also pledged to cut projected emissions by one billion tonnes and carbon intensity by 45% by 2030, and sought $1 trillion climate finance.
- Assessment: pledges still fall short of 1.5°C; India stresses equity, common but differentiated responsibilities and finance.
Close with · Glasgow kept 1.5°C alive but left delivery, finance and fairness for later; India's pledges pair ambition with a demand for support.
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- The Glasgow Climate Pact text calls for accelerating efforts towards the phasedown of unabated coal power and the phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. Decision -/CMA.3, Glasgow Climate Pact (advance unedited version), UNFCCC ↗“including accelerating efforts towards the phasedown of unabated coal power and phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies”
- The Prime Minister's National Statement at COP26 (November 2021) states the first three Panchamrit pledges verbatim: 500 GW non-fossil capacity, 50% of energy requirements from renewables and a one-billion-tonne cut in projected emissions, all by 2030. National Statement by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi at COP26 Summit in Glasgow, PIB (Prime Minister's Office), November 2021 ↗“First - India will reach its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030. Second - India will meet 50 percent of its energy requirements from renewable energy by 2030. Third - India will reduce the total projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes from now onwards till 2030.”
- The same statement gives the fourth and fifth pledges: carbon intensity of the economy cut by 45% by 2030 and net zero by 2070. National Statement by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi at COP26 Summit in Glasgow, PIB (Prime Minister's Office), November 2021 ↗“Fourth - By 2030, India will reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by less than 45 percent. And fifth- by the year 2070, India will achieve the target of Net Zero.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2021, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 265 words (UPSC limit 250) · Minimalist IAS
COP26 in Glasgow (November 2021) had to keep the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C goal within reach and complete its rulebook; the Glasgow Climate Pact and a set of national pledges were the result.
Major outcomes
- Ambition: Parties are asked to revisit and strengthen their 2030 targets by the end of 2022 to align with the Paris temperature goal.
- Fossil fuels: the first COP decision to name coal and fossil-fuel subsidies, calling for a "phasedown of unabated coal power" and phase-out of inefficient subsidies; "phase-out" of coal was softened to "phase-down" at the last moment.
- Finance: developed countries were urged to deliver the $100 billion a year goal and to at least double adaptation finance by 2025 from 2019 levels.
- Rulebook: Article 6 carbon-market rules and transparency reporting formats were finalised, closing the Paris rulebook.
- Loss and damage: a Glasgow Dialogue was created, but no new fund.
India's commitments: the Panchamrit
- 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030; 50% of energy requirements from renewables by 2030.
- A cut of one billion tonnes in projected emissions by 2030 and a 45% reduction in carbon intensity by 2030.
- Net zero by 2070.
- India also asked developed countries for $1 trillion in climate finance at the earliest, proposed LIFE (Lifestyle for Environment) as a one-word movement, and launched GGI-OSOWOG with the UK.
Assessment
- Pledges still fall short of 1.5°C; India's 2070 date is later than others' but its position rests on equity, common but differentiated responsibilities and finance.
Glasgow kept 1.5°C alive but left delivery, finance and fairness for later; India paired ambition with a demand that support match it.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify). UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.