India to focus on climate finance, tech transfer at COP 27, delegation to be led by Minister Bhupender Yadav

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pledged to net zero emissions at the COP26 in Glasgow, UK last year. And at this year’s 27th Sessions of the Conference of Parties of the UNFCCC (COP 27), the Indian delegation will be led by Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, who will focus on action in climate finance, technology transfer and capacity building. The COP 27 is scheduled to be held at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt from 6-18 November, 2022.

India will look forward to substantial progress in the discussions related to climate finance and clarity on its definition. According to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, 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. While the Standing Committee on Finance will submit a report on the various definitions, the ministry hopes to have good deliberations on this to arrive at a common understanding. The interpretation of the term must be in line with the commitments made by the countries on climate finance in the Convention and its Paris Agreement.

The ministry also states that the goal of $100 billion per year of climate finance by 2020 and every year thereafter through till 2025 is yet to be achieved. Due to lack of common understanding, several estimates of what has flown as climate finance are available. While the promised amount must be reached as quickly as possible, there is a need now to substantially enhance the ambition to ensure adequate resource flow under the new quantified goal post-2024.

In addition, India’s view on the Global Goal on Adaptation is that there needs to be significant progress on actions, indicators and metrics. There must not be any hidden agenda of mitigation, especially in the form of nature-based solutions, in the name of co-benefits.

India plans to once again emphasise on its invitation to all countries to join the LiFE movement – Lifestyle for Environment, a pro-people and pro-planet effort that seeks to shift the world from mindless and wasteful consumption to mindful and deliberate utilisation of natural resources.

Also read: What is Mission LiFE that PM Modi launched in Gujarat today?

Also read: $12.1 trillion of green investments required till 2050 for decarbonizing India: McKinsey