New Delhi, November 10, 2022: Climate finance is one the major themes of this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference, being held at Egypt, with developing nations pursuing developed countries to reassure sufficient and adequate financial assistance to mitigate climate change.
However, due to the lack of any concrete definition of what constitutes climate finance, India is one of the developing countries that is seeking clarity on the meaning of climate finance and, thus, pursue the developed nations to scale their tech supply and finance to the developing nations. This has been a contentious issue between the two worlds as developing nations such as India do not acknowledge foreign loans to be climate finance, as loans further push poor nations into indebtedness.
Though Indian Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi is not attending the summit, the Indian delegation is being headed by the Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav, who firmly believes that action is required to implement the objectives of the COP27. According to him, the main areas of focus include climate finance, mitigation work programme, global goal on adaptation, and loss and damage.
He firmly believes that there is a need for a multilaterally agreed definition of climate finance. Hence, India is pushing for concessional and climate specific grants, and expects developed nations to mobilise $100bn per year. In his presentation, Yadav stated, “There should be a decision on a new collective quantified goal (NCQG) on climate finance for the post 2025 period. It needs to specify quantity of long-term finance (in trillions), quality, scope, and also for ease of access to finance and with methods of tracking flows of such finance in a transparent manner.”
The country is also focusing on other essential aspects of climate finance and mitigation measures. Here are some important issues that India wants the world to divert its attention to:
Progressive development in climate finance
To recapitulate, as per the Environment Ministry, India wishes to see a progressive development in discussion over the topic of climate finance and its definition for developing countries so that the nations can assess the extent of financial flows for climate action. Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav was quoted saying to the Mint, “As it is a saying that 'what gets measured gets done', more clarity is needed on the definition of climate finance for the developing countries to be able to accurately assess the extent of finance flows for climate action."
Due to the lack of any clear definition, the developed and the rich countries just greenwash their finances and in turn the developing nations get loans as climate-related aid, which is not sufficient to mitigate the effects at the desired level and speed.
Deciding and committing a global finance target for developing nations
With the changing scale of climate change, funds needed to address it, and the aftermath along with adapting to the climate changes, India along with the other developing countries will push the rich nations to agree and commit to a global finance target, which is expected to be in trillions.
Commenting on the issues, RR Rashmi, Distinguished Fellow, TERI, and former climate negotiator under UNFCCC said, "The figure of USD 100 billion for developing countries was agreed upon much before the Paris Agreement was signed. Based on the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the total cumulative financing requirements of the developing world is anything in the range of USD 5.8-5.9 trillion till 2030."
To inspire the world towards lifestyle for environment idea
Reportedly, India will also focus on LiFE or Lifestyle for Environment, which essentially advocates the idea of shifting from too much consumerism to more climate-friendly behavior. Furthermore, India will also inspire and invite other countries too for joining the “Lifestyle for Environment” initiative – a pro-people and pro-planet initiative that desires to bring a transformation in the world by moving from mindless consumerism to thoughtful utilization of the natural resources.
TheCSRUniverse.com has been reporting on different aspects of COP27 starting from what’s COP27, history and origin and why is it a big deal?
Our reported stories also include top renewable energy firm from UAE and Egypt committed to launch wind farms, and the likes of climate compensation – ‘loss and damage’.
Stay tuned to thecsruniverse.com for many more stories on sustainability, CSR and COP27.
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