India Withdraws Offer to Host COP33 Climate Summit in 2028

India has withdrawn its candidature to host the COP33 United Nations climate conference in 2028, a bid formally announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a global meeting in 2023, senior Ministry of Environment officials confirmed to Down To Earth. The withdrawal ends India's candidature for what would have been a major diplomatic milestone in the country's climate engagement.

A senior official from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change confirmed to Down To Earth in early April 2026 that the formal decision to withdraw India's COP33 candidature had been conveyed through appropriate channels. The offer had been made by Prime Minister Modi in 2023 and had reportedly received backing from several frontline climate-vulnerable countries. A second senior ministry official confirmed the decision, noting it had been under consideration for some time before being finalised.

India's withdrawal removes it from contention to host what would have been one of the most consequential climate conferences in the post-Paris Agreement era, occurring in the first year of the new NDC implementation cycle from 2031. Hosting COP33 would have given India significant convening power to shape the global climate finance and adaptation agenda at a time when its own renewable energy and climate policy ambitions are under international scrutiny. The reasons for the withdrawal have not been officially stated.

The decision is likely to shift attention to other candidate nations, with countries from the Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Africa potentially expressing interest in hosting COP33. It also raises questions about India's capacity to manage the diplomatic and logistical demands of a global climate summit alongside its existing multilateral engagements. Climate observers note that India's active participation in global negotiations has been a consistent feature regardless of hosting status, and the withdrawal may reflect internal prioritisation decisions rather than a shift in climate ambition.

Key figure — 2028 — the year India had offered to host the COP33 global climate summit