India, April 28 -- India recently submitted its updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) - a voluntary action plan expected of signatories to the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - but made it conditional upon support from rich nations. This seems pragmatic given that the consensus on climate action has frayed significantly over the past few years. The US, despite being one of the largest historical current emitters of greenhouse gases, has walked out of key agreements on mitigation efforts and turned actively hostile by deepening its reliance on hydrocarbons. This has emboldened oil economies to neglect decarbonisation, while nations in favour of climate action remain unsure about the future course.

Beyond pr...