New Delhi: India has withdrawn its offer to host the 33rd session of the UN climate conference (COP33) in 2028. The country has communicated its decision, expressing inability to host the conference “following a review of its commitments for the year 2028”.Though India has so far not formally announced its decision, officials in the environment ministry confirmed communication of withdrawal to the concerned body without extending any further explanation.India’s proposal to host COP33 was first made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself on Dec 1, 2023 during his speech at COP28 in Dubai. The announcement came in the wake of successfully hosting the G20 summit in New Delhi in 2023.The withdrawal was communicated last week by the ministry’s joint secretary Rajat Agarwal to the chair of the UN climate body’s Asia-Pacific Group which is responsible for coordinating with host countries in the Asia-Pacific region.Without getting into the details, the brief communication talks about India’s commitment to engage constructively with the global community on climate action.India’s withdrawal comes merely a week after it enhanced its climate action target under the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement by declaring the country’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for the period 2031 to 2035 as part of its larger long-term goal of achieving net-zero by 2070.India’s latest NDC has three quantitative goals: reduction of emissions intensity (emission per unit of GDP) by 47% by 2035 from 2005 level; achieving 60% cumulative installed capacity of electric power from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2035; and creating carbon sink of 3.5 to 4.0 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent through forest and tree cover by 2035 from 2005 level.With India withdrawing its candidacy to host COP33, the Asia-Pacific Group may now bank on South Korea which too had earlier expressed its interest to host the UN climate summit in 2028. Turkiye will host COP31 later this year while Ethiopia will be hosting COP32 next year.