Climate funding still an area of concern: FM
WASHINGTON: India is concerned about climate funding, especially the failure by wealthy nations to make good on their decade-long commitment to contribute $100 billion every year to developing countries to help them transition to clean technology and energy, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.
“One of the issues that I did raise and it is also something which many people do take cognisance of is we actually don’t know if there were any measures given to measure if money spent on a particular project by somebody will be part of that $100 billion,” Sitharaman said at a media briefing after her meetings at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank on Friday evening.
“So, what constitutes $100 billion? How do we measure if actually $100 billion has been given or only some of them has been given?
“So, not just that $100 billion per year is coming or not, but how do we measure that it is indeed coming or not, is also one of the issues,” she said. Climate funding brought up the lingering issue on transfer of technology, a key climate issue for developing countries, she said. “So funding is continuing to be a question of worry for many countries, as much as even transfer of technology.”
Several participants in the IMF and World Bank meetings highlighted that issue, Sitharaman said.
“The issue is, again, as much as it is in the fund, do we know which technology that we are asking for transfer? Do we know which are those things which have to be considered for the debate and transfer of technology?” she questioned.
Both these issues are seen as potentially key impediments to a successful UN climate change conference in Glasgow — known as COP26 — next month.
In 2009 at COP15 in Copenhagen, developed countries pledged to mobilise $100 billion a year from 2020 to support poorer nations with climate adaptation, but there is currently a shortfall. Long-term finance is a key pillar of the 2015 Paris Agreement and crucial to global efforts to tackle climate crisis.
India’s recently launched ₹100-lakh-crore infrastructure master plan, digitisation and the ‘Make in India’ initiative were among the main topics discussed as Sitharaman connected with the world’s leading business officers at the Big Apple here on Saturday.