India calls for hike in climate finance to 1 trillion dollars

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav on Tuesday called upon the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) to work closely to protect the interests of developing countries, and urged that climate finance cannot continue at the levels decided in 2009 and should be increased to at least 1 trillion dollars to meet the goals of addressing climate change.

New Delhi: Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav on Tuesday called upon the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) to work closely to protect the interests of developing countries, and urged that climate finance cannot continue at the levels decided in 2009 and should be increased to at least 1 trillion dollars to meet the goals of addressing climate change.

Speaking at the Ministerial meeting of the LMDC held on the sidelines of COP 26 in Glasgow, Yadav underlined the unity and strength of LMDC as fundamental in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations to preserve the interest of the Global South in the fight against climate change.

The participating countries in the meeting included India, China, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Yadav highlighted that recognition of the current challenges being faced by developing countries required intensified multilateral cooperation, not intensified global economic and geopolitical competition and trade wars.

The Environment Minister also underscored that under the dynamic and visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is working on ambitious climate actions in line with sustainable development priorities. He requested the LMDC members to join hands with India to support the global initiatives it has pioneered, including the International Solar Alliance (ISA), Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and the Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT).

The Minister also appreciated the efforts of the Third World Network (TWN) for its support to LMDC and expressed the need to ensure resources to TWN. Yadav called upon the LMDC countries to work closely to protect the interests of developing countries, including the need to ensure a balanced outcome with equal treatment to all agenda items including finance, adaptation, market mechanisms, response measures, and decisions on delivery of transfer of environment-friendly technologies.

The countries collectively underscored that it needs to be ensured that the voices of the LMDC countries are heard loud and clear. The outcomes of COP 26 must respect the fundamental principles of the Convention, including equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC). The developed countries must provide means of implementation to developing countries in terms of climate finance, technology transfer and capacity building.

They highlighted about the empty promises of the developed countries and inability to deliver the USD 100 billion per year by 2020. They also called upon the speedy finalisation of the Paris Rulebook.

ANI