India cannot ignore the neglect of climate finance: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asserted that India cannot ignore the neglect of climate finance, and called on developed nations to set a target of providing at least one per cent of their GDP for financing green projects in the developing world.

Addressing the G20 Summit Session on ‘Climate Change and Environment’, PM Modi said that by forgetting climate justice, “we are not only doing injustice to the developing countries, but we are betraying entire humanity”.

As a vocal voice of the developing countries, India cannot ignore the neglect of climate finance by the developed nations, he asserted.

Without concrete progress on climate finance, pressuring the developing countries for climate action is “not justice”, PM Modi said.

He suggested that the developed countries set a target of providing at least one per cent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to finance green projects in developing countries.

At the session, PM Modi put three actionable points before the G20 partners — the G20 countries should create a ‘clean energy projects fund’ which can be used in countries where peaking has not happened yet; they should create a network of clean-energy research institutions in G20 countries; and the G20 countries should form an organisation to create global standards in the field of green hydrogen, so that its production and use is encouraged.

India will also make its full contributions in all these efforts, he added.

PM Modi also asserted that India is moving ahead with ambitious goals on this issue of climate mitigation.