India to Push for Climate Finance, Stronger Stand at COP30 in Brazil

India is planning to push hard for accountability on finance and technology to hold the global north accountable for its carbon emissions and abide its funding pledges, reported Business Standard.

In addition, developing countries need a clear plan to unlock $300bn a year in climate finance and easier access to clean-tech know-how.  The detailed guidelines for implementing Article 6—the United Nations’ (UN’s) international carbon-trading framework, adopted in the final hours of COP29—are still awaiting finalisation.

As the host of this year’s summit and leader in biofuels, Brazil aims to secure substantial funds to curb deforestation in Amazon.

Vibhuti Garg, Director for South Asia at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) told Business Standard that COP29 was seen as an improvement, particularly with the new quantified finance goal that raised the annual commitment from $100bn to $300bn annually by 2035.

However, it was noted that the progress still falls far short of what is required to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Bill Gates Dismisses Apocalypse

Negotiations over responsibility and funding are anticipated to heat up as countries get ready for COP30 in Belém.

Meanwhile, Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates urged world leaders on October 28 to adapt to extreme weather and focus on improving health outcomes rather than temperature reduction targets ahead of the COP30 climate talks in Brazil, reported Reuters.

According to reports, the Microsoft co-founder acknowledged the real and growing risks of climate change, especially for the world’s poorest populations, however, he rejected the notion that it will lead to civilisation’s collapse.

“Although climate change will have serious consequences… it will not lead to humanity’s demise,” he wrote. “People will be able to live and thrive in most places on Earth for the foreseeable future.”

Funding Gap Inescapable

According to the Adaptation Gap Report 2035 by the United Nations Environment Programme, adaptation finance—money needed to help developing countries mitigate the impact of the climate crisis in developing countries by 2035—are expected to be over $310bn per year. This makes adaptation financing needs in developing countries 12-14 times as much as current flows.

International public adaptation finance flows to developing countries were $26bn in 2023, down from $28bn the previous year, leaving an adaptation finance gap of $284-339bn per year. Based on extrapolated needs expressed in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), emission reduction targets, and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), the adaptation finance needed rises to $365bn a year.

At the same time, another key concern clouding ahead of COP30 is the failure of most countries to submit renewed NDCs. According to BBC, only 64 countries have submitted new NDCs to reduce carbon emissions despite all being required to do so ahead of next month's COP30 summit.

The Glasgow Climate Pact's (during the COP26 climate conference) objective of doubling international public adaptation finance from 2019 levels to about $40bn by 2025 will not be met unless financing trends change course soon.