Rich countries should not force the developing world to abandon fossil fuels completely, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday at the UN climate summit in Paris.

"We still need conventional energy -- we need to make it clean, not impose an end to its use," said Modi, who has argued India will continue to need coal to power its rapid economic growth.

Almost a third of India's population remains in severe poverty with limited access to electricity, and its government sees little chance of boosting their prospects without turning to cheap and plentiful coal.

The balance between limiting carbon emissions and allowing industrial development in poor countries is set to be a central debate during the November 30-December 11 climate talks in Paris.

"We hope advanced nations will assume ambitious targets and pursue them sincerely. It's not just a question of historical responsibility -- they also have the most room to make the cuts and make the strongest impact," Modi told the gathering of world leaders.

"The prosperous still have a strong carbon footprint and the world's billions at the bottom of the development ladder are seeking space to grow," he said.

Echoing demands made earlier by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Modi called on rich nations to meet their commitment to muster $100 billion (950 billion euros) a year from 2020 to help poor countries cope with climate change.

"Developed countries must fulfill their responsibility to make clean energy available, affordable and accessible to all of the developing world," Modi said.

Key dates in the battle against global warming
Paris (AFP) Nov 30, 2015 - Following are key dates in the nearly 30-year process leading up to the COP21 climate summit, which opened in Paris on Monday:

- A first response -

1988: UN establishes the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and tasks it with gathering scientific data on global warming and its impacts.

1990: First IPCC report says so-called greenhouse gases generated by human activity are on the rise, and could intensify global warming. Four more reports in 1995, 2001, 2007 and 2014 build a mountain of evidence that unbridled burning of coal, oil and gas is warming Earth's surface and disrupting its climate system.

1992: The Rio "Earth Summit" establishes the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and calls for voluntary reduction of greenhouse gases.

Each year since 1995, a Conference of Parties (COP) that adhere to the UNFCCC (currently 195 countries plus the European Union), meet to try to move the process forward.

- Labours of Kyoto -

1997: UNFCCC members agree on a framework accord, the Kyoto Protocol, which sets a 2008-2012 timeframe for industrialised nations to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by an average 5.2 percent from 1990 levels. Developing countries, including fast-growing China, India and Brazil, are not required to take on binding targets.

2001: Amid negotiations to flesh out Kyoto's rulebook, the world's then-leading carbon emitter, the United States, deals the protocol a body blow. George W. Bush says his country will not ratify the protocol, as it is too costly for the US economy and unfair as developing giants do not have binding constraints.

2005: The Kyoto Protocol takes effect following its ratification by Russia -- the 55th signatory needed for the protocol to enter into force. That leads to the creation of Europe's carbon market, a trading system through which countries may buy or sell units of greenhouse-gas emissions to meet national limits.

2006: China overtakes the United States to become the world's biggest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2). The European Union is third, followed by India, Russia and Japan.

2007: An IPCC assessment report says evidence of global warming is now "unequivocal". It forecasts likely warming of 1.8-4.0 Celsius (3.2-7.2 F) by 2100 and a rise in sea levels of at least 18 centimetres (7.2 inches). The report also warns that extreme weather events will probably multiply.

In October 2007, the IPCC and former US vice president Al Gore are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, but the panel's reputation is later tarnished by revelations that its most recent report contains several errors.

- From Copenhagen setback to COP21 -

2009: COP15 in Copenhagen is a near-catastrophe. Seeking a post-2012 agreement, it nearly falls apart in bickering and nit-picking between rich and poor countries. The outcome is a last-minute political "accord" among several dozen major emitters. The document sets a goal of limiting global temperature increases to two degrees C (3.6 F) but is vague regarding how the goal is to be reached.

It does, however, enshrine a promise by rich countries to mobilise $100 billion in climate aid for developing countries per year by 2020.

2010: COP16 in Cancun, Mexico, endorses the goals of the Copenhagen Accord, a move paving the way to a looser but universal approach to tackling carbon emissions. It also envisages the creation of a Green Climate Fund to help developing countries deal with global warming.

2014: The fifth IPCC report warns average global temperatures by the end of the 21st century could be 3.7-4.8 degrees C (6.7-8.6 F) higher than in the period 1850-1900 if nothing is done to ease the upward emissions trend.

2015: COP 21 starts in Paris on November 30, running to December 11. The goal is to unite all the world's nations in a single agreement, taking effect from 2020, that would cap warming at 2.0 C over pre-Industrial Revolution levels. At the core of the pact would be a roster of voluntary pledges on greenhouse gas that would be regularly reviewed in order to bring the goal in sight.