Scope, Scale And Speed Key To Unlock Climate Finance, Says India At UK-India Week 2022
Day Two of UK-India Week 2022, organised by the UK-headquartered India Global Forum (IGF), took on a green focus with the Climate Finance and Technology Summit at Bloomberg headquarters in London.
Over the course of the day, the Summit brought together senior ministers, policymakers and industry leaders from India and the UK to deliberate on some of the most pressing issues around climate change and the role that technology, finance and sustainability initiatives can play in leveraging the wide-ranging UK-India partnership to achieve lasting solutions.
“For the developing countries, adaptation finance is important and the $100bn finance goal must be fulfilled by the developed world. And this climate finance must address the three essential Ss – scope, scale and speed”, said Bhupender Yadav, Union Cabinet Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India.
“Climate change is not some disaster waiting for us in the future, but it’s our current reality. India is relying mainly on domestic resources to implement adaptation and mitigation action on mission mode”, he added.
In a session on investing in a green future post-COP26, Lord Gerry Grimstone, Minister of Investment, Government of UK, said: “I would like Indian companies to raise green finance in the UK. We should also encourage universities to work on this and exchange their PhD students. I am confident that it’s going to happen”.
Among some of the other sessions of the day included business contribution in shaping energy transition, the road ahead to COP27 and the role of disruptive technologies in climate action.
“We managed to get almost 200 countries to agree to a historic climate pact at COP26 because every country saw it’s in their own self-interest to act. If I look at the scorecard, yes there’s been progress, but we really need to speed up for COP27 at Sharm El-Sheikh”, said Alok Sharma, President, COP26.
“What we have learnt is that we cannot rely on fossil fuels and there is the need to accelerate on renewables”, Sharma added.
Sadhguru, Founder, Isha Foundation, summed up the day in his own words: “As a generation, we face a challenge, but we have the privilege and opportunity to turn things around too”.
“Without addressing soil, how can you address climate change or global warming? Nearly 35-40 per cent of the world’s global warming is because of open soils. The Save Soil campaign was to galvanise the people to mandate change from their governments; now businesses also need to act.
“By 2030, it is expected that 2/3rd of the land in the African continent will be degraded. In the last 25 years, we have lost 10 per cent of the world’s land for desertification. What else does it take to wake us up?”
Addressing a critical issue, the Summit involved a range of stimulating conversations on funding climate action. Bringing together global leaders from diverse industries with a common purpose to energise climate action, the delegates discussed the way forward to secure much-needed funds to tackle climate change.
“Quick action is needed if we are to leave behind a habitable world for the coming generations. Here, technology will play a disruptive role in leapfrogging us ahead in the fight against climate change”, said Prof. Manoj Ladwa, Founder and CEO of IGF.
“IGF is playing a crucial role in seeking the most efficient routes to achieving technological and financial sufficiency in our common and global fight against climate change”, he added.
