Bengaluru: India has withdrawn its offer to host the 33rd annual climate change conference or COP33 in 2028, according to a report by Climate Home News on April 2.Prime Minister Narendra Modi had proposed in December 2023, while speaking at the 28th Conference of Parties at Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that India would host COP33. Climate experts had commented then that this move would send a powerful statement from India.Climate experts have now called India’s decision to back out of hosting the COP a “strategic missed opportunity” and a “setback for global efforts”. The US-Iran war was forcing nations, including India, to take a “cautious approach”, and that includes announcing conservative climate targets and prioritising short-term energy security through traditional fuels, they told The Wire.India withdrawsPer the report by Climate Home News, Rajat Agarwal, Joint Secretary with the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, informed the chair of the Asia-Pacific Group within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (which conducts the climate conference) about India’s decision to withdraw from hosting COP33 on April 2 via a letter.Per the report, the four-paragraph letter said that India took the decision after it ‘reviewed’ its climate commitments for the year 2028. The letter does not specify any other reason for the withdrawal but noted that India would “continue to engage constructively with the international community on climate action and appreciates the “support and solidarity” of the Asia-Pacific countries during its bid for candidacy”, per the report by Climate Home News.The Union government has not yet confirmed the news via any press release or other official channel.‘A strategic missed opportunity’India’s withdrawal from the bid is “a strategic missed opportunity”, said Harjeet Singh, climate activist and founding director of Satat Sampada Climate Foundation.“Having proven it can green its economy at a record pace, India has now forfeited the home stage to showcase its renewable energy triumphs, electric mobility revolution and more,” he said.By stepping back, New Delhi also loses a critical platform to champion the Global South – failing to replicate the leadership of its G20 presidency at a time when the global climate narrative must be framed around the needs of the developing world, he added.“COP33 should have been the forum where India demanded accountability for historical emissions, ensuring that a just transition to a green economy doesn’t come at the expense of energy access for the world’s most vulnerable,” he told The Wire.A “setback”Sanjay Vashist, director of Climate Action Network South Asia, told The Wire that this move to withdraw from hosting COP33 is a “setback” for the global effort toward an ambitious and equitable climate agenda:India’s leadership has always been rooted in ethics and a commitment to justice in climate policy, consistently reminding developed nations of their responsibilities on mitigation and finance. India has also demonstrated strong domestic climate action, embodying environmental sustainability and multilateralism. Its withdrawal from the nomination is therefore a setback for the global effort toward an ambitious and equitable climate agenda.When Modi had proposed, in December 2023, that India would host the climate conference, Vashist had termed the announcement “significant”, and that this meant India must now “walk the talk” on its commitments and show actual leadership on the ground in cutting down on the use of fossil fuels, Down To Earth had reported.Impacts of ongoing Iran-US war?Singh noted that current global geopolitics and conflicts have forced many nations, including India, to take a cautious approach – announcing conservative climate targets and prioritising short-term energy security through traditional fuels.“However, I strongly believe this is a temporary phase, not a derailment,” Singh told The Wire. “The trajectory of India’s renewable energy sector is already outpacing its official commitments. Ultimately, for India, true energy security and sustainability can only be achieved through renewables and that shift is already well underway and remains inevitable.”India’s decision to back out of hosting the COP comes less than a month after the Union Cabinet approved India’s third Nationally Determined Contribution, a set of long-term goals that every country signatory to the Paris Agreement has to provide and update every five years, as part of the global effort to cut carbon emissions and adapt to climate change impacts.India’s updated targets include reducing emissions intensity of its GDP by 47% by 2035 from the 2005 level, achieving 60% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2035, and creating a carbon sink of 3.5 to 4.0 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) equivalent through forest and tree cover by 2035 (when compared to the 2005 level).Experts had commented that these ‘unambitious’ targets are easily achievable for India, and that they underestimate the country’s potential for transformative clean energy growth.