India rejects UK charge on coal move at COP26

India on Wednesday rejected the British charge that India and China had pushed for diluting the language on coal from “phase out” to “phase down” in the deal agreed at COP26 in Glasgow.

Rather it was the US-China joint statement that was the first to mention the phrase “phase down”, said sources here. COP26 President Alok Sharma had attacked India and China, stating both countries will have to explain themselves to climate-vulnerable nations because of the change in wording. India was not the author of changing “phase down” from “phase out”. Sharma had asked its representative to read out the consensus statement, sources said.