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India’s demands for a new finance goal wins support
India, in its updated nationally determined contribution, may make some of its contributions conditional to climate finance. “That is still being discussed,” a senior official from the Indian delegation said.
Several developing countries backed India’s demands at the COP26 climate summit for a new finance goal to support the energy transition they will require to cut greenhouse gas emissions, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged developing countries to not let the promise of financial assistance remain hollow.
This new goal will be for the period after 2025, by when developed countries may have delivered on their promised $100 billion funding that was supposed to begin in 2020 but hasn’t till now. Economists said climate finance has always been an important issue in negotiations but at Glasgow, there could be major backlash from developing countries on unfulfilled finance promises.
India, in its updated nationally determined contribution, may make some of its contributions conditional to climate finance. “That is still being discussed,” a senior official from the Indian delegation said.
Union environment minister, Bhupender Yadav, who is heading the Indian delegation, said at a meeting of the Like Minded Developing Countries that climate finance cannot continue at levels decided in 2009, which is $100 billion. It should be at least $1 trillion, he said -- a view that was supported by others.
Guinea, on behalf of G77 and China, raised the importance of climate finance for the success of the COP26 talks and for the effective implementation of NDCs.
Bolivia, which represented the LMDCs, said the developed countries’ pledge made in 2009 to mobilise $100 billion per year by 2020 has not come through and the timeline has now been shifted to 2025. Developing countries, meanwhile, are being pushed to raise their ambition on climate actions, it added further.
The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) highlighted that $1.6 trillion went to subsidising fossil fuels globally since the adoption of the Paris Agreement and asked for a decision at COP26 to call for phasing out all fossil fuels subsidies in major economies by 2023.
