India Lists Climate Finance Priorities for COP31 in Antalya

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav set out what India will ask for at the thirty-first Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to be held in Antalya, Turkiye. Briefing reporters in New Delhi, he said India would carry a solution-oriented approach to the talks, with practical answers for the Global South, and would work closely with the G-77 and China grouping, the Like Minded Developing Countries and the BASIC bloc.

What India will press for

• Climate finance: a decision at the conference to begin the Climate Finance Work Programme. The Minister said finance is an obligation of developed countries under Article 9.1 of the Convention, and must be predictable, largely public and concessional, without adding to the debt of poorer countries.
• Mitigation: the Global Stocktake must stay Party-driven, facilitative and non-punitive, respecting the nationally determined character of climate pledges and ruling out fresh top-down targets.
• Adaptation: indicators under the Global Goal on Adaptation should remain voluntary and must not decide who gets money, while adaptation finance itself is scaled up.
• Just transition: the Just Transition Work Programme should continue through a Party-driven mechanism, seen through climate justice, the right to development and affordable energy access.
• Technology: transfer of technology is an obligation of developed countries, and barriers of cost, intellectual property rights and trade must be tackled. Taking part in carbon markets should stay voluntary.

India will also link adaptation in farming to food security and to the livelihood of small and marginal farmers. Its programme at the conference includes LeadIT 3.0 with Sweden, side events on coastal resilience and panels on the International Big Cat Alliance and on forests.

Results from the two other COPs

The Minister also reported on biodiversity and land talks. At CBD COP17 in Yerevan, Armenia, India backed fair implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, pressed developed countries to meet their duty under Article 20(2), opposed any forced widening of the donor base, and sought benefit sharing on Digital Sequence Information through the multilateral route including the Cali Fund.

At UNCCD COP17 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, India was elected Chair of the Asia-Pacific Regional Group and repeated its pledge to restore over 26 million hectares of land by 2030. India argued for a shift from drought response to drought resilience, backed community-led restoration of rangelands, described pastoralists as partners, and released its first Guide to Grasslands and Other Open Natural Ecosystems of India.