Don't pay climate lip service, pay up

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman asking multilateral development banks, such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) earlier this week, to explore additional methods for providing concessional climate finance comes not a day sooner. Development and economic choices have contributed to climate degradation with its all-too-palpable consequences. This has led to increased and sustained pressure on countries to do more. Yet, demand for robust action, especially by G20 countries, has not come with improved financial flows. This is scandalous, and runs the serious risk of making all talk of climate-change mitigation by rich countries hot air.

On its part, India requires about ₹716 lakh crore ($10.1 trillion) to achieve net-zero by 2070 as per target. In 2022, India enhanced its climate commitments under the Paris Agreement. But even securing finances – roughly ₹162.5 lakh crore ($2.5 trillion) till 2030, or ₹11 lakh crore ($170 billion) a year – to meet the 2015 targets has been an uphill task. Financial flows for greening the economy amount to about a quarter of the $170 billion required every year. India’s green investments have been overwhelmingly from domestic resources – about 83% in FY2020. While studies report increased financial flows, it is nowhere near the required amounts. The push to step up the pace of transition is growing. The focus has been on middle-income developing countries to increase the pace of the transition. But the bulk of green investment flows end up to developed countries, and China.

Stepping up climate action is critical and must be sustained. For the world to meet its goal of limiting warming to 1.5° C, sustained and increased financial flows is essential. If this needs constant badgering, so be it.