VOI World/ Astha Pandey
At the recently held COP30 climate conference in Belém, Brazil. India laid out its long-standing call for fairness in the global climate agenda and urged industrialised nations to ramp up financial and technological support to developing countries.
The appeal also stays true to the need as climate impacts are rapidly accelerating worldwide, making the question of who pays for adaptation and transition more urgent than ever.
While representing the voice of the Global South, India not just renewed its stand but also reminded negotiators that climate justice and the principle of shared but differentiated responsibilities cannot be sidelined in the race to meet net-zero targets.
Putting out the claim that meaningful progress depends on reliable funding as much it is about the pledges and target, along with the affordable access to clean technologies that can help emerging economies grow without deepening their carbon footprint.
According to a recent analysis by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), many major developing economies ( excluding China ), are currently receiving less than 15 per cent of the world’s climate finance flows, even though they account for roughly a quarter of global GDP.
If expert’s estimate is to be taken into notice then, these nations will require around $3.2 trillion annually by 2035 to achieve low-carbon growth, with about $1.3 trillion needing to come from international sources.
India’s environment ministry stressed that adaptation efforts building climate-resilient infrastructure, protecting coastal communities, and shifting to clean energy cannot move forward unless developed nations deliver on their decade-old promise of $100 billion in annual support.
It also urged wealthier and progressed countries to reach net-negative emissions sooner, given their historic contribution to the climate crisis. However, one key theme in India’s statement was technology equity. It pressed for open access to green innovations and the removal of restrictive intellectual-property barriers that prevent developing countries from adopting clean technology at scale. In New Delhi’s view, climate action should not create new hierarchies between rich and poor nations, but rather bridge existing divides through shared resources and fair partnerships.
As the conference discussions continue, India’s message stands out for its moral clarity and pragmatic tone, a reminder that ambitious climate goals will only hold weight if they rest on trust and equity.
In the words of an Indian delegate, “We cannot build a sustainable planet on an unsustainable sense of justice.”
