Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav will be leading Indian delegation to attend the 27th Session of Conference of Parties of the UNFCCC (COP 27) scheduled to be held at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt from 6-18 November, 2022.
India is fully engaged with the process and is supportive of the efforts by Government of Egypt for substantive outcomes at COP 27.
In the 56th Session of the Subsidiary Bodies held in June 2022 in Bonn, developing countries made it clear that UNFCCC is the centre of the collective and multilateral response to the issue of climate change. There must be a faithful, balanced and comprehensive implementation of the Convention and the Paris Agreement, in accordance with its goals and principles.
India looks forward to substantial progress on the discussions related to climate finance and clarity on its definition. As it is a saying that “what gets measured gets done”, more clarity is needed on the definition of climate finance for the developing countries to be able to accurately assess the extent of finance flows for climate action. While the Standing Committee on finance will submit a report on the various definitions, we hope to have good deliberations on this to arrive at a common understanding. The interpretation of the term must be in line with the commitments made by the countries on climate finance in the Convention and its Paris Agreement.
The goal of USD100 billion per year of climate finance by 2020 and every year thereafter through till 2025 is yet to be achieved. Due to lack of common understanding, several estimates of what has flown as climate finance are available. While the promised amount must be reached as quickly as possible, there is a need now to substantially enhance the ambition to ensure adequate resource flow under the new quantified goal post-2024.
The discussion on the new collective quantified goal in the ad-hoc working group must focus on the quantity of the resource flow and also on the quality and scope. Issues relating to access to and suggestions for improvement in the function of the financial mechanisms are also important. Besides this, improvement in transparency to ensure appropriate oversight of the quantum and direction of flows is imperative. The Ad hoc working group must provide advice/ suggestions covering all the above aspects.
Strengthening of the financial mechanisms of UNFCCC and its operating entities is imperative to meet the climate finance delivery goals. There needs to be a greater discussion on this as resources available to them should be utilized well. The SCF could also play an important role in assessing the shortcomings and may suggest appropriate measures to address them.
The Egyptian Presidency of COP27, which is also a member of the Like Minded Developing Countries, has rightfully named COP 27 as the COP of “Implementation”. India welcomes this step as over the last twelve months the world has seen the widening gap between the statements by developed countries at COP 26 in Glasgow and the reality of their actions.
India will support the Egyptian Presidency, for a plan of action that answers the needs of developing countries. Adaptation and loss and damage are two issues at the centre of attention, and a progress on these two issues will complement each other.
Loss and damage must also be on the agenda of COP27 and there must be specific progress on the issue of loss and damage finance. The existing financial mechanisms, like GEF, GCF and Adaptation Fund, under the Convention have not been able to mobilise or deliver funds for loss and damage due to climate change. These mechanisms are under-funded; accessing funding is cumbersome and time-consuming; and most of the funding is for mitigation. Adaptation funding is highly inadequate and loss and damage funding is perhaps none at all.
These are the circumstances based on which G77 and China has proposed adoption of an agenda item on loss and damage finance. It is the time that this issue is accorded prominence on the climate agenda that it rightfully deserves.
On the Global Goal on Adaptation, there needs to be significant progress on actions, indicators and metrics. There must not be any hidden agenda of mitigation, especially in the form of nature-based solutions, in the name of co-benefits.
The Work Programme on Enhanced Ambition in Mitigation and Implementation cannot be allowed to change the goal posts set by the Paris Agreement. The GST process and the other mechanisms of the Paris Agreement, including enhanced NDCs and submission of the long-term low emissions development strategies, are sufficient. In the Mitigation Work Programme best practices, new technologies and new modes of collaboration for technology transfer and capacity building may be discussed fruitfully.
On the issue of finance, a discussion on Article 2.1 (c), a sub-clause of article 2, cannot be opened as a standalone COP27 agenda item at this stage. Article 2(1) (c) has to be read in conjunction with entire article 2 as well as article 9 on climate finance. Reaching the USD 100 billion per year goal must come first, and the developed countries must be asked to show the roadmap for the same.
India will emphasize again on its invitation to all countries to join the LiFE movement – Lifestyle for Environment, a pro-people and pro-planet effort that seeks to shift the world from mindless and wasteful consumption to mindful and deliberate utilization of natural resources.
India is committed to both domestic action and multilateral cooperation on climate change, and will continue to fight all global environmental concerns in the call to protect humanity’s planetary home. But global warming also warns that equity and international cooperation, leaving no one behind, hold the key to success, where the most fortunate must lead the way.
