Aftermath COP-29: What Should India's Agenda Be?

India's position is that climate finance should incentivise and facilitate developing countries' adoption of renewable energy sources over fossil fuels, write Dr ASIT KBARMA, Director & Professor and Dr MAFRUZA SULTANA, Assistant Professor, Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Tiruchirappalli

- Dr ASIT KBARMA AND Dr MAFRUZA SULTANA

MORE THAN half of the global GDP, approximately US$44 trillion, depends directly on nature and its resources, making it highly vulnerable to environmental degradation. We need to build a nature-positive economy. Today, the environment is a common boardroom agenda. Microsoft has committed to achieving a state of carbon negativity by 2030 and eliminating historical carbon emissions by 2050. Unilever has a sustainable living plan in which the company pledges to reduce its environmental impact by half.

The Global Risks Report 2024 released by the World Economic Forum identifies the degradation of biodiversity and the disintegration of ecosystems as prominent global threats. Additionally, investing in nature could unlock US$ 10.1 trillion in economic opportunities annually and create nearly 400 million jobs by 2030.

COP-29 assumed great importance in agreeing on climate financing. India’s position is that climate finance should incentivise and facilitate developing countries’ adoption of renewable energy sources over fossil fuels, and curbing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) should not be seen as an investment goal by developed countries. Instead, it is a unidirectional provision and mobilisation goal from developed to developing countries.

A US$ 5-6.8 trillion value of climate finance until 2030 was mooted at Baku. Negotiators worked on the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG) to adapt to climate change and shift to renewable sources without compromising developmental needs. However, on the closing day of COP29, developed and developing nations are far from agreeing on a number. COP 29 also discussed the carbon market and the mechanism for providing climate action finance.

Another topic of conversation was the Biennial Transparency Reports (BTR), which nations must submit every two years, detailing progress on their climate action commitments, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).