COP29: India calls for significant boost in climate change adaptation finance

India on Tuesday called for a significant boost in climate change adaptation finance, underlining that developing countries were suffering largely due to the historical emissions of developed nations.

“For us as developing countries, our people’s lives – their very survival – and their livelihoods are at stake,” India’s negotiator said at a High-Level Ministerial Dialogue on Climate Change Adaptation at the 2024 UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Azerbaijan’s Baku.

The negotiator said India’s adaptation financing was primarily from domestic resources. “We are currently developing our National Adaptation Plan.” The negotiator cited India’s initial adaptation communication submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change last year and said it outlined that the requirements for building adaptation capital could rise to about $854.16 billion. “Clearly, a significant boost in adaptation finance flows is essential.”

The negotiator underlined that the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), a fair and balanced finance deal, needs to address slow disbursements, lack of flexibility to adapt to changing requirements, and complex approval procedures with stringent eligibility criteria that make it difficult to access climate finance. NCQG for the post-2025 period needs to be an ambitious mobilisation target at grant/concessional term, the negotiator added.

A press release on India’s statement at the ministerial cited CoP28 Global stocktake decision emphasising the need to bridge the tremendous gap in adaptation, and gaps in implementation that arise from the lack of sufficient attention and resources. “Additionally, at CoP28, parties to the Paris Agreement adopted the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience. This framework acknowledges the urgent need for enhanced support and implementation resources from Developed countries to help [the] Developing countries meet adaptation targets.”

India underlined this mobilisation should go beyond previous efforts, supporting country-driven strategies while respecting the unique needs of developing countries.