India wants $1trillion from rich and developed countries if they want the former to cut down on emissions that lead to global warming, Bloomberg reported.
The demand comes in the backdrop of India’s announcement at COP26, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that his country would target 2070 to reach its net-zero target.
Speaking at the climate conference being held in Glasgow, Scotland, the prime minister had also said that rich countries should contribute as much as $1 trillion in funds to assist climate strategies.
On Wednesday, 10 November, however, India made certain clarifications about Modi's statements. Officials said that India wants $1 trillion in funds just for itself by 2030.
That is 10 times more than the annual amount that was promised to low-income countries seeking to fight climate change.
This means that over the next 10 years, according to India's demands, developed nations would have to provide India an equal amount of money that was promised in totality to low-income countries.
Environment Secretary Rameshwar Prasad Gupta justified the huge sum said in an interview, arguing that rich and developed nations owe this to low-income developing nations because the former has been historically responsible for the majority of greenhouse emissions, dating back to the Industrial Revolution.
India has not joined the 121 nations that have filed in their nationally determined contributions (NDCs).
An anonymous official told Hindustan Times that India will not update its existing NDCs and submit fresh ones until it is assured of financial aid to tackle the emissions issue.
"Let’s be clear. India will not update its NDC till there is clarity on climate finance."
India wants the funds to be available “as soon as possible,” according to Bloomberg Green.
Considering that the promises that India made at COP26 were supposed to be its new NDCs, holding back until climate finances are guaranteed essentially means that India isn't going to revise its NDCs at all.
US Climate Czar John Kerry has said that he "won’t promise" $1 trillion for India, but will look into the details of its demands.
India is also resisting some of the phrases being used in the final agreement that is being drafted at COP26 such as, nations have to "accelerate the phasing-out of coal and subsidies for fossil fuels".
For India to agree to that, it says that it needs an assurance of funding.
These clarifications are expected to brew some discontent among other countries, especially after the latest report by the Climate Action Tracker (CAT) research group that says that the world is heading for 2.4°C of global warming despite the declarations made at COP26 that countries pledge to fulfil by 2030.
(With inputs from Bloomberg, Bloomberg Green, and Hindustan Times)
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