NEW DELHI: India has reiterated its stand on climate finance during the ongoing negotiations at the COP29 summit in Baku, stating that developed countries need to commit to mobilise at least $1.3 trillion every year till 2030 to aid developing countries in shifting to renewable energy to bring down carbon emissions.
The developing countries at the summit are negotiating the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), an amount that must be mobilised by the developed countries every year from 2025 onwards to finance climate action in the developing countries.
$1.3 trillion is an estimate of the amount the developing countries will collectively require to shift to renewable sources without compromising on their economic advancement.
India highlighted that the impact of climate change was increasingly becoming evident in the form of one disaster to another.
India’s lead negotiator at COP29, Naresh Pal Gangwar, stated that extreme weather events were frequent and increasingly strong, and the impacts were being especially felt by people of the Global South.
“There is, therefore, a need for heightened ambition on climate action. We are at a crucial juncture in our fight against climate change. What we decide here will enable all of us, particularly those in the Global South, to not only take ambitious mitigation action but also adapt to climate change. This COP is historic in this context,” he said.
At the summit, India stated that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change had stated that responses to climate change should be coordinated with social and economic development, taking into account that the first priority of the developing countries was to eradicate poverty.
“The context of different national circumstances, sustainable development goals and poverty eradication, particularly with respect to the Global South, should not be lost sight of. These principles must form the basis for a strong outcome on the NCQG at COP29,” Gangwar said.
India also stated that climate finance should not be seen as investment goals by the developed countries.