GREEN FINANCE: Global South must raise voice for ambitious new climate finance goal

India on Saturday said the Global South should collectively raise its voice for an ambitious new climate finance goal at the UN climate change conference in Azerbaijan’s Baku.

Addressing a session of the third Voice of Global South Summit, Union environment ministry secretary Leela Nandan said COP29 must deliver concrete commitments to halt global warming and ensure climate justice.

“We must collectively raise our voices in Baku for a transparent, grant-based, concessional and ambitious new collective quantified goal,” she said.

Financial support to help middle-income and poor countries fight climate change will be at the centre of the UN climate conference in Baku, where world leaders will reach the deadline to agree on the New Collective Quantified Goal — the new amount developed nations must mobilise every year from 2025 to support climate action in developing countries.

Achieving a consensus will not be easy, given the disappointing progress made on the issue at the mid-year UN climate talks in Germany.

While developed countries have failed to honour their commitment to provide $100 billion a year to developing nations for addressing climate change, the new climate finance goal must be proportionate to the scale of the needs of these developing nations, Nandan said.

It should align with the estimates of the Standing Committee on Finance, which range from $5.8 trillion to $11.5 trillion by 2030, she said.

According to the Standing Committee on Finance, this funding was necessary to meet the targets set by developing countries in their Nationally Determined Contributions and other communications.

India also said developed countries should be reminded of their responsibilities to support the Global South in conservation and restoration efforts, as outlined under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.