India abstained from voting on a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution calling on countries to comply with their obligations on climate change, voicing concern that the draft “undermines” the “sacrosanct architecture” of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The resolution was adopted in the 193-member General Assembly on Wednesday (May 20, 2026) with 141 votes in favour, eight against and 28 abstentions, including by India.
India said it had engaged constructively during negotiations on the resolution and clarified its concerns and positions at every stage.
“We are therefore disappointed that our concerns were not addressed, despite our best efforts to find common ground,” it said.
In the Explanation of Vote, First Secretary in India’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, Petal Gahlot, said adoption of the resolution by the General Assembly does not create binding commitments for India.
“Our obligations arise only from outcomes adopted under the UNFCCC process. Hence, in line with our stated position on Climate Change related issues, India was not in a position to vote in favour of this resolution,” she said.
The resolution titled ‘Advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the obligations of States in respect of climate change’ welcomed the July 2025 unanimous advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on States’ obligations on climate change. It affirmed the importance of the ICJ’s advisory opinion as an authoritative contribution to the clarification of existing international law.
India has long maintained that climate obligations must be negotiated through the UN climate framework, which recognises the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities”, under which developed countries, as the largest historical emitters, are expected to take the lead on emissions cuts and provide finance and technology support to developing nations.
Moved by Pacific island nation Vanuatu, the resolution called on all countries to comply with their obligations under international law to protect the climate system and the environment from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.
It urged countries, in line with the Paris Agreement and their national circumstances, to implement measures aimed at limiting the rise in global average temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
India said the draft resolution fails to clearly reflect the “advisory and non-binding” nature of the ICJ opinion.
“We are therefore seriously concerned that the resolution undermines the sacrosanct architecture of the UNFCCC process, by elevating an Advisory Opinion to a binding or quasi-binding status, attempting to impose obligations on developing countries that have not been multilaterally agreed upon. This is a dangerous precedent that we must all be wary of,” Ms. Gahlot said.
India noted that the resolution prescribes specific mitigation pathways, imposes external benchmarks for ambition, and creates conditions that may invite judicial or quasi-judicial scrutiny of nationally determined contributions.
“This seriously undermines national policy space and disrupts the bottom-up architecture of the Paris Agreement,” Ms. Gahlot said.
India and several developing countries have also expressed concern in the past that attempts to give greater legal weight to the ICJ opinion could expose national climate targets and domestic policy choices to international legal scrutiny outside the negotiated UN climate process.
India also objected to the absence of the term “climate finance” in the resolution text. “It is now a well-documented fact that the climate finance goal agreed to in 2024 falls short of the needs of developing countries and deserves more attention in a resolution that deals with Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change,” Ms. Gahlot said, describing it as a “serious omission”.
She said India believes that the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement provide an agreed, equitable and sophisticated framework for achieving climate goals.
Ms. Gahlot stressed that sustainable development and poverty eradication remain overriding priorities for developing countries.
“Any transition in energy systems must therefore be just, orderly, and equitable, taking into account the need for energy access, economic growth, and social development. The resolution does not adequately recognise these imperatives and constrains policy space for developing countries.
“It is further a case of insult to injury that there is absolutely no reference to the necessity of developed countries continuing to take the lead in mitigation and providing adequate and predictable financing, technology transfer and capacity building to developing countries in order for them to undertake such transitions,” Ms. Gahlot said.
She also underscored the need to address the “historical injustice” faced by Small Island Developing States and their vulnerability to climate change, noting that this forms the basis of India’s development cooperation with them.
“It is for this reason that despite our concerns not being addressed in this resolution, India did not vote against it,” Ms. Gahlot said, asserting that several elements in the resolution, such as the exclusion of means of implementation for developing countries, are contrary to India’s “principled stand” on climate action.
Published – May 21, 2026 02:22 pm IST
