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In a historic intervention, India expressed deep disappointment over the new climate finance target, calling it “abysmally poor” and emphasised that it cannot accept it
Chandni Raina, part of India’s negotiating team, speaks during a plenary session at the COP29 UN Climate Summit, on November 24, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
India strongly objected to the adoption of the new climate finance deal at the UN Climate Summit (COP29) in Baku, calling the final outcome “extremely disappointing” after it was rushed through in the wee hours despite a clear opposition from the developing countries.
Just as the COP29 Presidency gavelled the decision to adopt the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), India rose to highlight that it had requested to make a statement prior to the adoption. “We have seen what you have done. Gavelling and trying to ignore parties from speaking does not behove the UNFCCC system and we want you to hear us. We absolutely object to the unfair means of adoption of the text,” stated India, drawing loud applause from other attendees at the closing plenary.
The two-week long UN conference ended in the early hours on Sunday with a new climate finance target calling developed countries to contribute $300 billion per year by 2035 to the wider goal of $1.3 trillion per year by 2035 from all public and private sources. This goal replaces the previous $100 billion annual commitment of developed countries in 2009, which remained largely unfulfilled. The negotiations extended late into the night with countries locked in a stalemate till the eleventh hour.
“Trust is the basis of all action, and this incident is indicative of a lack of trust, and collaboration on an issue of climate change which is faced by entire world, especially developing countries that are not responsible for it,” said India’s delegate Chandni Raina delivering country’s statement.
TOO LITTLE, TOO DISTANT
In its historic intervention at the closing plenary, India said the developed countries taking lead for a mobilization goal of merely $300 billion and that too to be reached only by 2035 – almost 11 years later – was “too little, too distant”. Moreover, this amount would come from a wide variety of sources, including private and multilateral. Furthermore, a large amount of it will fall on the developing countries to mobilise themselves.
As part of the G77+China, India had demanded a much higher ambition of at least $500 billion in public grants annually for the $1.3 trillion goal from the developed countries. The deliberations have continued over the last three years, reaching a tipping point at the UN Summit where the goal was to be adopted.
However, talks reached a stalemate after the draft texts put the contribution from developed nations to just $250-300 billion per year. Tensions rose as representatives of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) temporarily walked out of the negotiations, stating their demands were ignored.
In its statement, India also criticised the developed countries for their unwillingness to fulfil their responsibilities, despite their historical responsibilities and high per capita emissions. It also underscored the principles of equity and common, but differentiated responsibilities which define climate action in vulnerable countries.
NEW FINANCE TARGET, AN OPTICAL ILLUSION
With developing countries at the forefront of increased climate disasters, India highlighted that this “paltry sum of $300 billion/year” will not enable conducive climate action that is critical for the survival of the country, and growth of its people. “We cannot accept it,” the representative reiterated.
The statement expressed concerns over sections of the new text which call for voluntary contributions from developing countries, as well as climate-related finance to be mobilized by multilateral development banks (MDBs). “This is highly problematic. If we participate, developing countries will become major contributors for climate finance. Counting MDB finance into the overall goal is not a progression of the $100 billion target, but a deflection of developed countries’ responsibilities towards developing countries,” said India.
Highlighting that the final outcome does not inspire confidence that the world will come out of the challenge of climate change, India stated the outcome will hinder its ability to adapt to climate change, implement Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and severely impact growth.