The poorest nations and most vulnerable communities, which have contributed the least to the climate issue, are facing its largest impact, according to Yadav, who visited to developed African nations.
On Wednesday, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav warned that because wealthy countries have not kept their word, the flow of climate funds to developing countries continues to be a “mirage.” In his speech at the G20 environmental and climate ministerial meeting in Bali, Indonesia, he said that the combination of development and climate finance was dragging poor and vulnerable nations deeper into debt.
Yadav claimed that in 2019, loans rather than grants made about 70% of governmental climate finance. Only 6% of climate money in 2019–20 was allocated as grants. This causes developing nations to incur more debt. An estimated $1 trillion shortfall in Covid-19 spending affects developing nations.
He claimed that although India had not historically contributed to global emissions it was demonstrating via its actions its desire to be a problem-solver. “India has made outstanding strides in recent years towards powering all homes and rapidly expanding access to clean cooking energy. It is also one of the biggest markets in the world for the use of renewable energy. For lowering emissions from difficult- to- control sectors, India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission has the potential to change the game. All of these initiatives require low-cost investment and cutting-edge methods for increasing climate finance to twice the 2019 levels by 2025. According to him, developing and implementing low-carbon technologies also need new techniques. According to him, development and deployment of low-carbon technologies also need technological renovation.
On August 26, India amended its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to combat climate change, reaffirming to the top body of the UN that it will cut down the emissions intensity of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 45% from 2005 levels by 2030. It has committed to obtaining roughly 50% of its energy requirements from non-fossil fuel based sources.
Yadav said that in order to effectively address climate change on a global scale, growth and environmental protection must first be recognized as complementary rather than mutually exclusive. In addition, while taking into account national conditions, the idea of shared but distinct duties, and individual capacities, we must decouple economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions, according to Yadav.
India launched the Lifestyle for the Environment (LiFE) Movement at COP26 in Glasgow. According to the Paris Agreement, India’s expanded NDC includes LiFE, which aims to promote healthy and sustainable lifestyles based on customs and the values of conservation, moderation, and climate justice as well as to safeguard the weak and the disadvantaged from the negative effects of climate change.
According to Yadav, in order to attain environmental, climatic, and development goals, economies at large must promote resource efficiency and circularity while taking the local conditions and national capacities into account. According to Yadav, people who have historically been responsible for the majority of the accumulated concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere bear the primary duty for the transition to net-zero emissions.
According to Yadav, India has gradually reduced and streamlined the subsidies through the elimination of significant fuel subsidy for transportation and improved targeting, such as the provision of subsidies for renewable energy sources and reduced tax rates.
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