Despite not being a traditional contributor to global emissions, Minister of Environment, Forest, Climate Change, Labour and Employment Bhupender Yadav said that India is showing its intent to be a problem solver.
In his remarks at the opening ceremony of the G20 environmental and climate ministerial meeting in Bali, Indonesia, he also stated that the current pace and volume of climate finance from wealthy countries is not keeping pace with the global desire to address climate change.
According to him, the poorest countries and most vulnerable populations are bearing the brunt of the climate problem since they contributed the least to it and lack the technology, capacity, and resources needed to dramatically alter the current quo.
The minister said that, in 2019, 70% of public climate money was distributed as loans rather than grants. Grants accounted for only 6% of climate finance in 2019-20. This is dragging poor countries deeper into debt.
According to him, it is critical to mobilise resources to stimulate the economy in a way that makes it more resilient and sustainable. However, the current pace and volume of climate finance from wealthy countries falls short of the global desire to address climate change.
Any initiative to address the contemporary environmental challenge should therefore be on the basis of Equity and principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities & Respective Capabilities in the light of the national circumstances and priorities, he added.
Yadav informed the gathering that India will assume the G20 Presidency from 1st December 2022 culminating in the G20 summit in 2023. As under the Indonesian Presidency, there shall be meetings side events, workshops, seminars, and site visits across different cities in India during G20 Presidency.
