Climate finance is not charity, but the responsibility of developed countries: Bhupender Yadav

Providing finance to the developing countries for climate change mitigation projects is no charity but a responsibility of the developed countries, Bhupender Yadav, India’s Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change, said here on Tuesday.

In an interaction with Indian journalists, Yadav said India had stressed in the negotiations that ‘there must be a clear definition of what ‘climate finance’ is’.

In reference to how the developed countries (countries of the Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation, or OECD) see what goes as climate finance, Yadav said, “it is according to their definition (of climate finance)’’.

The Minister was categorical on the point that Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which deals with development and control of a global market for carbon offsets trading, has nothing to do with climate finance — implying that any moneys earned by the developing countries by selling carbon offsets cannot be treated as ‘climate finance’ provided to them. Nor should private finance be treated as part of climate finance, the Minister said.

Asked for an update on the negotiations under Article 6 – where countries are trying to come to an agreement on the rules for carbon markets – Yadav said he was unable to provide an update because the issue was still in closed-door negotiations.

On ‘adaptation’ (which refers to measures to protect the world from the climate change consequences that have already become inevitable, as opposed to ‘mitigation’, which refers to measures to prevent further global warming), Yadav said there should be a balance between mitigation and adaptation. (Developed countries, who can afford to undertake adaptation measures, are more keen on mitigation than adaptation).

Meanwhile, news emanating from the negotiating rooms have it that the European Union does not want a formal split between adaptation and mitigation finance.

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