Wanting to achieve our environmental goals for a greener India seems a very delightful idea. Unfortunately, if we start working towards achieving these environmental goals now, we would have to buckle up with all the forces we could muster. One of the most potential forces is climate finance, for which we look upon governmental and financial institutions.
Climate finance is crucial for addressing the issues caused by climate change and achieving the goal of keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Its goal is to encourage climate change mitigation and adaptation measures.
However, as large-scale investments are required to substantially reduce emissions, green finance is critical to addressing climate change. In India, the focus is on developing advanced financial and policy solutions to support the government’s renewable energy and green growth plans. Public funding, via budgetary allocation and several schemes and funds related to climate change established by the government, is India’s largest source of green financing, which is still not enough to compensate for all the damage already caused by us.
In order to make sure India’s efforts do not go in vain, the government of India has requested a trillion dollars from developed nations so as to adapt to and reduce the challenges posed by global warming and has made this a condition of meeting climate commitments.
The conditionality of India’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) is that it is contingent on the availability of $1 trillion in climate finance. According to a report by the Rainforest Action Network, sixty of the world’s largest banks gave $3.8 trillion to fossil fuel companies between 2015 and 2020.
The overall pledges to the Green Climate Fund until July 2019 were only USD 10.3 billion, which is highly insufficient given the estimated expenses for developing countries should be USD 4 trillion. India and other developing countries need to accurately estimate how much green financing is needed as it is required in order to ensure that they operate on an equal footing.
Climate finance will be one of the driving forces in the future, allowing developing countries like India to attract significantly more investment, which requires more lenient environmental laws. To move climate finance forward in India, government strategies and industrial actions must converge.
On the other hand, there is a need for a change in the mindset of industrialists about the long-term sustainability of their business models. This would increase demand for alternative solutions to climate issues, giving climate finance initiatives a boost. Industries and businesses will also surely benefit from guidance on how to access funds in order to develop low-carbon holdings and work for a greener India. Climate change risks can affect every sector.
Conclusively, to avoid this, adequate climate financing is needed to be utilized efficiently by each sector. Climate finance is crucial for combating climate change because large-scale investments are needed to significantly lower emissions, particularly in sectors that emit large amounts of greenhouse gases. While the statistics regarding positive climate actions till now are not excellent, there is reason to be optimistic: strong climate actions will not only help mitigate these effects, but will also have significant long-term development benefits, such as improving health and providing a better lifestyle to future generations.