ABSTRACT
India is one of the important participants in the global climate change governance system. Its response to climate issues has always adhered to the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” and assumed corresponding to national obligations. India has a strong initiative to participate in climate governance. This is closely related to India's traditional concept, people's livelihoods, energy security, and its pursuit of the major power status. On the other hand, India has shown obvious autonomy in climate governance and clearly stated that it does not accept quantitative emission reduction targets. Its contribution to the concept of climate governance can be summarised into three aspects. First, in 1991, India worked closely with other developing countries to include the “common but differentiated” responsibility for emission reduction in the IPCC report and stressed that developed countries bear the primary responsibility for climate change. Second, at the first meeting of the Parties to the UNFCCC in 1995, India proposed per capita emissions, which came from western ideas; considering GDP as the emission reduction standard. Third, at the UNFCCC's fourth meeting, India distinguished between “survival emissions” and “Luxury emissions” and advocated the implementation of emission reduction on the premise of ensuring the economic development of developing countries. The threat of extreme weather to the survival of Indians is becoming increasingly serious. India is one of the top ten countries that are seriously affected by climate change. In 2014, PM Modi focused on promoting energy transformation. India has fallen into three key objectives in this process – giving full play to the advantages of renewable energy, increasing investment and development in the field of renewable energy, formulating a reasonable transformation plan, focusing on Energy Tax Substitution and Transformation Investment. Presently, China also attaches great importance to climate governance. China strives to achieve a carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. The transition period from carbon peak to carbon neutrality is about 30 years, which is much shorter than that of western developed countries. In this context, the challenges and practices faced by India's energy transformation can also provide inspiration for China. Therefore, the space for cooperation between China and India in climate governance can be expanded, and they can jointly uphold the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and the common position of developing countries.
