India withdrew its offer to host the COP33 climate summit in 2028, although the Environment Ministry has yet to offer a specific reason for the decision.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. (MEA)
India on Friday confirmed that it has withdrawn from its bid to host the COP33 climate summit in 2028, stressing that the country is fully committed to meeting its commitments on climate change.
“India has withdrawn (from hosting COP33). There are several issues that we have taken into account, but India remains fully committed to meeting its commitments on climate change. We are one of the G20 countries that fully met its Paris Agreement commitments. We will continue to build our green agenda and, at the same time, see how we can foster a greater climate change action worldwide,” he added.
India withdrew its offer to host the annual COP conference in 2028, according to reports. The decision was conveyed to the Asia-Pacific group on April 2.
During his address at COP28 in Dubai in 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had proposed India as the host country for COP33. Usually, the venue for a COP edition is decided two years in advance.
The Environment Ministry has not offered a specific reason for the move, but former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant called it a “sensible” decision. “The developed world has not lived up to any of its commitments made at COP21 in Paris. COPs have been taken over by Fossil fuel lobbyists,” he said on X.
Sources told news agency PTI that the nomination of hosting a COP is done by the regional group, in this case, the Asia-Pacific Group, and the COP secretariat is not involved in the decision-making process on the host country.
The right to host the annual climate COP negotiations rotates between the UN’s five regional groups. This year, COP31 will be co-hosted by Turkey and Australia – both members of the Western Europe and Others Group – and next year’s COP32 will be held in the capital city of Ethiopia, a representative of the African Group.
COP, or Conference of the Parties, is the annual gathering of countries that are signatories to the 1994 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It also functions as the meeting of parties to the 2015 Paris Agreement and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. These conferences determine the global direction for climate action.
In July 2025, the Environment Ministry in India had set up a dedicated COP33 Cell to address the professional and logistical requirements for the 2028 summit.
(with inputs from PTI)
April 17, 2026, 16:07 IST
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