Global finance critical to India's climate actions: Economic Survey

'Enhanced initiatives' by developed countries must be in form of finance, technology transfer, capacity-building

The Economic Survey has a separate chapter on climate change for the second year straight, reiterating the central government’s focus on enhanced investment and aggressive targets for carbon mitigation and green growth.

The survey said India’s climate leadership dates back to the pre-Paris Agreement, citing eight missions announced in 2008 under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) by the then United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

The survey noted India has “one of the most robust climate actions through its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), which includes an ambitious programme for transitions to clean energy in the world.” Despite Covid-19 hurting the economy, the country has enhanced its climate ambition manifold, it said.

While the last Economic Survey focused on including climate change and sustainable development in policy planning, the new one urges the developed world to finance the climate policy planning of developing nations.

Citing the Renewables 2022 Global Status Report, the 2023 survey noted, “During the period 2014 -2021, total investment in renewables stood at US$ 78.1 billion in India. Investment in renewable energy has been close to or higher than US$ 10 billion per year since 2016.”

Green hydrogen, non-fossil fuel-based electricity, and emission reduction are cited as the key investment drivers for the country’s sustainable growth. “Obligations on climate should be matched with the on-time availability of climate finance, technology, and inputs like critical minerals, while not jeopardising the socio-economic development objectives and aspiration,” said the survey.

The Indian delegation at the last conference of parties (COP27) re-emphasised during negotiations that developing nations need global climate finance to meet their sustainable development needs. The same is part of India’s NDC too.

The survey echoed the same. “Even if India has so far undertaken climate actions on its own, the heightened expectations of further large-scale climate measures have to be equated with the enhanced initiatives by developed countries in terms of providing means of implementation, including finance, technology transfer, and capacity-building support,” it said.