“To be successful, climate negotiations need to fulfil three purposes: set the agenda and targets, put in a process for their implementation, and monitor enforcement and progress. The year 2023 has underlined clearly why the UN’s Conference of Parties cannot kick the can of climate justice, climate action and climate finance down the road. It has been the hottest year on record—with floods, droughts and wildfires—as well as a geopolitically turbulent one. The Global Stocktake will be a report card to our collective pledges so far,” said Dr Arunabha Ghosh, CEO, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).
Dr Ghosh added, “But climate action expected from developing countries can’t be divorced from ensuring livelihoods and security of the basics for the vulnerable – such as access to energy, food and water. In order for the Global South to shift from ambition to action and from action to acceleration of their energy and low-carbon transitions, finance needs to flow in a manner that is cheap, long and convenient. For developed country Parties to retain credibility, promises must convert into delivery along with a serious introspection about sustainable lifestyles. COP28 must take concrete steps to bridge inequities and set in a process that monitors progress and ensures accountability”.
India, which announced its target to achieve net zero by 2070 at COP26, has made significant progress to accelerate its energy transition. As part of its G20 Presidency this year, it drew consensus from the world’s major economies for a Green Development Pact, which seeks to balance development and the environment, and spoke up for the needs of the Global South. The Pact shifted the conversations from the billions to the trillions needed for the energy transition.
It noted that developing countries will need $5.8-5.9 trillion in the pre-2030 period, particularly to implement their NDCs. The press release stated that India already has the fourth-largest renewable capacity in the world and the number of Indians employed in clean energy sectors increased by 47 per cent between FY21 and FY22. Further, the country saw the highest-ever electric vehicle sales in just the first six months of FY22-23. However, inequity in action, finance flow and technologies needed for the energy transition still exist.
