India raises questions over $100 bn financing to developing countries

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 29

India has raised questions on the roadmap for $100 billion in climate change financing a year by 2020, just before the Paris talks and sought genuine flow of funds from developed to developing countries.

Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das has called for more credible, accurate, and verifiable numbers on the true size of the mobilisation of climate change finance commitments and flows from developed to developing countries.

Das said India had also raised questions on the correctness of the recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report, which claimed that significant progress had already been made and the Climate Change Finance Unit, Ministry of Finance and its experts have mentioned that the OECD report appears to have overstated progress.

Das said clean technology is important and not unreasonable standards, which create markets for developed countries and escalate growth costs for others. “Need credible, accurate & verifiable method of measuring true size of climate change finance flows from developed to developing countries... as per commitment and not clever accounting,” he said in a series of tweets.

The secretary said OECD report on climate change finance provided by developed countries suffers from overstatement of numbers and double counting. India has maintained that developed countries must ensure financing and technology transfer to developing countries to help them fight climate change.