COP26: India PM Narendra Modi pledges net zero by 2070

India plans to reduce its emissions to net zero by 2070, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told the COP26 climate summit.

Mr Modi said his country had "spared no efforts in fulfilling its duty" to combat climate change.

Unlike other major economies, this is the first time India has made such a pledge.

A key goal of the Glasgow summit, however, is for all countries to commit to net zero by 2050.

Net zero, or becoming carbon neutral, means not adding to the amount of greenhouse gases currently in the atmosphere.

India is the world's fourth biggest emitter of carbon dioxide after China, the US and the EU.

But its huge population means its emissions per capita are much lower than other major world economies. India emitted 1.9 tonnes of CO2 per head of population in 2019, compared with 15.5 tonnes for the US and 12.5 tonnes for Russia that year.

Mr Modi made the pledge as one of five commitments from his country - what he called "elixirs".

They include a pledges for India to get 50% of its energy from renewable resources by 2030, and by the same year to reduce total projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes.