- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
While it is not uncommon to see government delegations and climate activists dominating the annual gatherings of the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP), that the presence of business delegations from India at the event has been sharply increasing in recent years, The Hindu has reported citing analysts and long-term participants present at those conferences.
While the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the umbrella body under which the COPs are held, keeps statistics on participation by various interest groups and their national affiliations, it doesn’t break them down specifically in terms of business or environmental delegations, the report said.
At COP27 which is currently underway at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, about 33,000 delegates have registered which perhaps has made it the second-largest in the history of COPs. India’s delegation size, representing government representatives, is 70.
Mahendra Singhi, the MD and CEO, Dalmia Cement, told The Hindu that there were “12-15 businesses” at COP27 and this was a steady increase from the previous editions.
“The opportunity to learn, be part of panels, and present the steps we’ve taken as a country, industry and company to adapt to newer practices to nearly 40,000 participants [who attend the two weeks of the conference] is very valuable,” he told the daily over the phone from Sharm el-Sheikh.
“Going ahead, we are in talks with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to increase Indian participation,” he said.
