Editorial: India’s nuanced stand at climate summit

Ambitious climate targets mean little if wealthy nations fail to honour their commitments on finance and technology support for developing countries

On the surface, India’s refusal to submit its plan for carbon reduction targets might have attracted criticism from some quarters at the United Nations Climate Summit — COP30 — but the reality is that having ambitious targets on paper means little if wealthy nations, the biggest carbon emitters, fail to honour their commitments on climate finance and technology support for developing countries. It is time for a candid reality check, as the industrialised world has failed to meet the USD 100 billion annual commitment made over a decade ago. However, they have been putting pressure on developing nations to meet ‘Net Zero’ (reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero) targets early. At present, climate finance is the most contentious issue with nations disagreeing on who should pay, how much should be paid, what forms the funding should take — either loans or grants — and how the funds should be accessed. The success of climate negotiations, and thereby the energy transition, would hinge on climate finance by industrialised nations. Developed countries, which have historically contributed to most emissions leading to the temperature rise and climate change, must take responsibility for assisting developing nations financially by putting a compensation mechanism in place. India’s position on loss and damage due to climate change is that developed countries have a bigger contribution to environmental damage and resultant calamities that have taken place in developing countries, in particular, island-nations.

On their part, developing nations are already doing what they can to achieve climate goals without climate finance. At COP30, held in Brazil’s Belem city, India has done the right thing by calling for a major increase in global adaptation finance as the funding gap widens. India’s Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav has stressed that adaptation is an essential investment, not optional. He highlighted that developing countries will need up to USD 365 billion annually by 2035, but current flows are drastically lower. While India is committed to domestic adaptation as part of climate action, it strongly supports the creation of a Just Transition Mechanism. For the Global South, affordable and adequate access to finance, technology and capacity building, aligned with national circumstances, is vital to ensure that no one is left behind. Developed countries must reach net zero far earlier than current target dates and deliver new, additional and concessional climate finance at a scale of trillions, not billions. The last COP in Azerbaijan’s Baku saw angry reactions from the developing world when developed countries said they would provide USD300 billion annually as climate finance by 2035, while poor countries demand more than USD 1 trillion. Developing countries also say there has been no clarity and transparency on how the USD 300 billion will be provided, and that developed countries are pushing for private finance, which will burden poor countries with loans. Some rich developed countries want China and India to contribute to the global climate finance pot.

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