We are pleased to note that the Union Ministry of Finance has issued a discussion paper titled ‘Climate Summit for Enhanced Action: A Financial Perspective from India’, for the 23 September 2019 United Nations Climate Action Summit.
The discussion paper examines various issues on climate finance from India’s point of view. We see that the paper reminds the United Nations that “in order to respond to the worldwide call for stepping up climate actions, it will have to be matched with adequate provision of climate finance from developed countries to developing countries as mandated by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) under the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities and equity”.
That means, no dilution of or change in India’s stand on the matter of who is historically responsible for the material in our atmosphere (likewise in our oceans, ice sheets and soils) which has pushed the global parts per million (ppm) of CO2 to 410.45 (the measure for 2019 June, monthly mean, by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Earth System Research Laboratory) and which a year ago was 407.84 ppm.
The paper has said that “climate finance is a key pillar in enabling climate actions” with the most recent estimates for taking climate actions being trillions of US dollars and not billions, but that “the momentum of these flows is insufficient and inadequate”. Referring to India’s Nationally Determined Contribution, the paper said our NDC is on a “best effort” basis, keeping in mind the developmental imperatives of the country. The year 2023 is when UN member countries will undertake a first global stocktake under the Paris Agreement. At that time, said the paper, “India will be better placed to consider a mid-term assessment of its actions and suitably recalibrate through re-examination and improvement” while for now, “India may only be in a position to elaborate or clarify its post 2020 climate actions already pledged in its NDC”.
Global Climate Fund (GCF) finance to India as per the latest available information amounts to only US$ 177 million. This is literally less than peanuts, INR 1,258 crore – the Union Territory of Pondicherry spent INR 2,720 crore just on social sector expenditure in 2017-18. Furthermore, limited as it is, the GCF is now facing withdrawal of some earlier promised sums. That is why the paper says, “the GCF is yet to reach a meaningful stage”. We fully agree.
In 2015, developed countries published a roadmap for global climate finance to US$ 100 billion, which claimed that public climate finance levels had reached US$ 41 billion per year in 2013-14. However, these claims have been contested by many. There have been many critiques on such reporting particularly on credibility, accuracy and fairness. There have also been serious concerns raised about the methodologies of accounting especially the definitional requirements of ‘new and additional’ and ‘grant equivalent’ finance. Suffice to say that the claims of the developed countries do not stand up to scrutiny.
The paper has said that finance needs for India’s are approximately US$ 206 billion (at 2014-15 prices) between 2015 and 2030 for implementing adaptation actions in key areas like agriculture, forestry, fisheries, infrastructure, water resources and ecosystems. Apart from this, there will be additional investments needed for strengthening resilience and disaster management. (RG)
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