NEW DELHI: India has said COP29 in Baku is a historic meeting because it can enable the Global South, the most vulnerable to climate change, to take ambitious mitigation action and adapt to severe climate impacts.
During a High-Level Ministerial on Climate Finance on Thursday, India’s lead negotiator Naresh Pal Gangwar also reiterated that developed countries should commit to provide and mobilise at least USD 1.3 trillion every year till 2030, though grants, concessional finance and non-debt-inducing.
“We are at a crucial juncture in our fight against climate change. What we decide here will enable all of us, particularly those in the Global South, to not only take ambitious mitigation action but also adapt to climate change. This CoP is historic in this context,” Gangwar said at the ministerial, according to a statement.
He added that extreme weather events are so frequent and increasingly strong, that their impact was being felt by people all over the developing world. There is, therefore, a need for heightened ambitions on climate action.
“India’s intervention reiterated that the developed countries need to commit to provide and mobilise at least $1.3 trillion every year till 2030, though grants, concessional finance and non-debt-inducing support that cater to the evolving needs and priorities of developing countries, without subjecting them to growth-inhibiting conditionalities in the provision of finance,” the statement said.
The statement also recognised that such a scenario is vital for advancing towards COP30 in Brazil, where all parties are expected to submit their updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
The statement emphasised that NCQG cannot be changed into an investment goal when it is a unidirectional provision and mobilisation goal from the developed to the developing countries. Paris Agreement is clear on who is to provide and mobilise the climate finance – it is the developed countries, it added.
“Bringing in the elements of any new goal, which are outside the mandate of the convention and its Paris Agreement, is unacceptable,” Gangwar said. The statement ruled out any scope for re-negotiation of the Paris Agreement and its provisions.
India underlined that the performance of developed countries about their existing financial and technological commitments had been disappointing.
“The $100 billion was committed in 2009, 15 years ago. We have a common time frame for expressing ambitions every five years. There is a similar need in terms of Climate Finance. We are very hopeful that developed countries will realise their responsibility to enable enhanced ambitions and make this CoP29 a success”, the statement said.
NCQG, a new finance target to replace the Paris Agreement’s $100 billion a year, is one of the desired outcomes of the Baku climate talks.
The African Group of Negotiators (AGN) echoed India’s concerns. “We are standing firm against attempts to re-define Paris Agreement’s obligations. The funding commitments by developed nations remain binding. For Africa and other developing nations, the $1.3 trillion is essential for achieving climate adaptation, resilience, and emissions reductions,” the AGN chair, Ali D Mohamed said during the ministerial on Thursday.
Oil Change International released a new analysis on Friday which stressed that private sector mobilisation of finance for NCQG may not work. It said increases in global clean energy investment in the last decade have been overwhelmingly limited to OECD countries and China, with the low and lower-middle-income countries that make up 42% of the population receiving just 7% of investment in 2022.
To fill these finance gaps, the primary solution put forward by Global North countries in the NCQG negotiations is to rely on a small amount of subsidised (“concessional”) public finance to attract a much larger amount of private finance. The major studies and proposals they point to typically expect each dollar of concessional public finance to attract $5 to $7 in private finance for the energy transition in the Global South.
“Our analysis shows that in practice every $1 of concessional public finance leverages only 85 cents in private finance for energy transition projects. In low-income countries, this drops to 69 cents. Thus, an NCQG premised on lofty private finance ‘mobilization’ goals is likely to lead to continued massive shortfalls in funding for a just energy transition,” the statement said.
Baku launches ‘peace’ call
The COP29 Presidency launched the Baku Call on Climate Action for Peace, Relief, and Recovery (BCCAP), an inter-party initiative to address the nexus of climate change, conflict, and humanitarian needs. The initiative is outside the negotiated agenda of COP29.
Azerbaijan launched the initiative in collaboration with Egypt, Italy, Germany, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
“The Baku Call establishes the Baku Climate and Peace Action Hub, a cooperative platform designed to facilitate collaboration between national, regional, and international peace and climate initiatives to ensure peace-sensitive climate action and scale up support and finance for the most climate-vulnerable countries also affected by conflicts and high humanitarian needs,” the Presidency said.
The Call was launched by Azerbaijani Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeyhun Bayramov at the high-level panel titled “Climate and Peace: Enabling Joint Action to Leave No One Behind.” The event brought together ministers and governmental envoys from a range of countries across the Global North and South to develop a strategy for preventing climate-induced conflicts and scaling up support for climate and conflict-vulnerable nations with high humanitarian needs.
Through multiple rounds of consultations over the last six months, the COP29 Presidency has developed, in collaboration with partner co-lead countries of Egypt, Italy, Germany, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom, solution-oriented responses that build upon climate and peace initiatives championed by previous COP Presidencies. It has established the Baku Climate and Peace Action Hub as a coordination platform.
The Hub will drive results-oriented synergy and foster joint peace-sensitive climate action of ongoing peace and climate initiatives, namely the COP27 Climate Responses for Sustaining Peace (CRSP) Initiative, the COP28 Declaration on Climate, Relief, Recovery, and Peace (CRRP), Germany-led Climate for Peace Initiative (C4P), and the climate dimension of Italy’s Mattei Plan for Africa to meet needs of the climate and conflict vulnerable countries.
The Baku Call on Climate Action for Peace, Relief, and Recovery also introduced interventions for water scarcity, food insecurity and land degradation.