Developed nations must fulfil legal climate finance obligations: India at COP30

New Delhi, Nov 11 (PTI) India on Tuesday reaffirmed its firm commitment to multilateralism and equity in global climate action, and said that developed nations must fulfil their legal obligations on finance, technology transfer and capacity building to developing countries.

Delivering statements on behalf of the BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) and the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) groups at the opening plenary of the 30th UN climate conference (COP30) in Belem, Brazil, India said climate finance remains the biggest barrier to enhanced ambition, and called for a clear definition of what constitutes climate finance, along with strengthened and scaled-up public finance for adaptation.

India emphasised that Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement places a binding responsibility on the developed countries to provide financial resources to the developing nations.

It said adaptation finance must increase fifteen-fold to meet the needs of billions of vulnerable people who have contributed the least to global warming.

Expressing full support for multilateralism and international cooperation, India called for outcomes that uphold the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC).

It pressed for reliable, affordable and equitable access to climate technologies and urged the removal of intellectual property and market barriers that hinder technology transfer to the developing countries.

The country said that the architecture of the Paris Agreement must not be altered and that CBDR-RC remains its cornerstone.

India reminded the developed countries of their historical and ongoing responsibilities, urging them to reach net-zero earlier, invest in negative emissions technologies and meet their long-standing finance and technology commitments.

It also cautioned against unilateral climate-related trade measures, warning that such steps risk turning into protectionist tools and violate Article 3.5 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which prohibits trade restrictions under the guise of climate action.

Bolivia, on behalf of the LMDC group, earlier submitted a proposal to the UN climate body, seeking to include the issue of unilateral trade measures such as the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism on the agenda of this year's climate talks.

India says that unilateral measures force developing and low-income nations to bear the costs of transitioning to low-carbon economies, undermining climate finance commitments from developed nations, which have historically benefitted from industrialisation and contributed the most to greenhouse gas emissions.

The issue, raised repeatedly at the annual climate conferences since 2023, is yet to be formally taken up.

This year, the matter has been left to the COP30 Presidency to address through consultations outside the formal negotiating process.

Other politically-sensitive and unresolved issues on which Brazil’s Presidency is holding consultations include the implementation of Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement, which makes climate finance from the developed countries to developing countries a legal obligation; addressing the 1.5-degree Celsius ambition and implementation gap; and transparency of national climate data. PTI GVS ARI