India Withdraws Bid to Host COP33 in 2028, Replacement Not Yet Announced

India has withdrawn its offer to host the United Nations ‌annual climate Conference Of the Parties (COP33) in 2028, sources told PTI on April 8.

During his address at COP28 in Dubai in 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had proposed India as the host country for COP33. Usually, the venue for a COP edition is decided two years in advance.

Sources confirmed that the decision was officially communicated to the concerned earlier this week that India is withdrawing its bid to host COP 33. They, however, did not state any specific reason behind the government's decision.

There was no response from the Environment Ministry on the development. A questionnaire sent to the COP headquarters in Bonn also did not elicit any response.

However, former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, in a post on X, called India's withdrawal a "sensible move".

"The developed world has not lived up to any of its commitments made at COP21 in Paris. COPs have been taken over by Fossil fuel lobbyists," he wrote on X.

PTI further reported that the nomination of hosting a COP is done by the regional group, in this case, the Asia-Pacific Group, and the COP secretariat is not involved in the decision-making process on the host country.

The right to host the annual climate COP negotiations rotates between the UN's five regional groups. This year, COP31 will be co-hosted by Turkiye and Australia – both members of the Western Europe and Others Group – and next year's COP32 will be held in the capital city of Ethiopia, a representative of the African Group.

In July 2025, the Environment Ministry in India had set up a dedicated COP33 Cell to address the professional and logistical requirements for the 2028 summit.

The United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) sets the rules for the climate club. COP is their flagship event, each gathering presided over and hosted by a country.

How COP Hosting Works

Five UN regional groups take turns hosting a United Nations climate conference (COP) which includes Africa, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean and Western Europe and others. Countries in the designated area choose candidates by consensus, usually picking a host two years before the event.

Another country in the Asia-Pacific region can take India’s place since India is no longer hosting COP33. The UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) runs these annual summits as part of an international treaty to fight climate change. COP meetings are important places for governments to talk about how well they are doing with agreements like the Paris Agreement and decide what climate action should come next.

(With inputs from PTI.)