Quad nations to join forces to tackle climate crisis

The leaders of Australia, India, Japan, and the US in their first in-person Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) Summit on Friday (local time) announced that they are combining their forces to "tackle the climate crisis."

"We have joined forces to tackle the climate crisis, which must be addressed with the urgency it demands. Quad countries will work together to keep the Paris-aligned temperature limits within reach and will pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels," read a joint statement issued by the White House at the end of the meeting of leaders of the Quad.

To this end, Quad, as the grouping of the four democracies is called said it intends to update or communicate ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by COP26 and welcomed those who have already done so. Friday's first in-person summit of Quad comes a month ahead of the global climate summit, COP26 in Glasgow, UK.

Quad countries will also coordinate their diplomacy to raise global ambition, including reaching out to key stakeholders in the Indo-Pacific region.

"Our work is organized across three thematic areas: climate ambition, clean-energy innovation and deployment, and climate adaptation, resilience and preparedness, with the intent to pursue enhanced actions during the 2020s, contributing to the aim of achieving global net-zero emissions preferably by 2050, and taking into account national circumstances," the grouping said in its joint statement.

Leaders of the Quad nations also said that they are pursuing nationally appropriate sectoral decarbonization efforts, including those aimed at decarbonizing shipping and port operations and the deployment of clean-hydrogen technology to mitigate climate change.

"We will cooperate to establish responsible and resilient clean-energy supply chains and will strengthen the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and climate information systems," read the statement.

Quad countries will work together for successful outcomes at the COP26 and G20 that uphold the level of climate ambition and innovation.

( With inputs from ANI )