With COP27 around the corner, India to focus on climate finance and fossil-fuel mix use

While developed countries had agreed to supply $100 billion annually to developing nations to help in climate finance, most of the contributions remained unfulfilled. To enable developing countries to cut their emissions, financial help to the tune of trillions would be required. The upcoming conference will see India argue for more comprehensive financial commitments that extend past 2025. Additionally, India is also expected to take up the question of climate finance for adaptation as well as loss and damage from climate change to developing countries.

A contentious point that India may stick to is the continuing use of fossil fuels while increasing renewable capacity. India along with China had forced the inclusion of an amendment in the COP26 pledge to water down the commitment to leave fossil fuels like coal. The pact called for a ‘phase down’ of coal instead of a ‘phase out’, despite the fact that coal remains the most polluting and harmful fossil fuel being used.

India recently updated its Nationally Determined Contributions to reduce emissions by 45 percent by 2030, compared to 2005 levels. Additionally, India aims to reach 50 percent installed generation capacity of renewable and non-fossil sources by 2030. India will try to achieve these targets "with the help of low-cost international finance". In other ambitious goals, India aims to set up 500 GW of renewable capacity by 2030. A stark contrast from the 169.71 GW renewable capacity today. India aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2070.

India may also submit its long-term strategy (LTS) to reach net-zero emissions in COP27 as part of the agreement within last year’s Glasgow Climate Pact. Though, whether the LTS is ready for submission or not is not yet clear.

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