For India, besides climate finance which is the central focus of this year’s Conference of Parties, energy transition, carbon market and electric vehicles will be focus areas.
This year’s summit is being termed the ‘Finance COP’ as it will focus heavily on securing a new climate finance target for countries most vulnerable to climate impacts. India has so far played a key role in shaping global climate finance frameworks to address the urgent funding needed for both mitigation and adaptation efforts. At Baku, India will seek a New Collective Quantified Goal that is far ahead of the outdated $100 billion annual target set in 2009. India has repeatedly stated that developed countries need to provide at least $1 trillion of climate finance per year.
The country’s stance going into COP29 will continue to focus on equitable finance for adaptation and mitigation, with a clear emphasis on accountability from developed nations. India is among the nations that support prioritising public, grant-based and concessional finance for all developing nations. It supports private finance in a supplementary role as a catalyst.
Electric vehicles shall also focus on India’s list of concerns. This is a fast-growing segment in India, accounting for 6.42% of all the new vehicles sold. India recently became the world’s third largest three-wheeler market surpassing China, and accounts for 60% of global electric three-wheeler sales. India also ranks second behind China for sales of e-scooters – 880,000 units in 2023, an increase of 40% year-over-year.
Another focus will be Energy Transition which is at the core of India’s energy journey and is central to all its major energy plans. Whether it is fossil fuels, renewable energy or industrial decarbonisation, all policies focus on an efficient use of energy assets and low-carbon growth while ensuring energy security and independence.
India has also taken a series of measures to encourage the development of the renewable energy (RE) ecosystem, including manufacturing capabilities. At the same time, it has taken steps to protect the Indian RE industry against cheap imports from China. In 2022, it imposed a custom duty on the import of solar panels from China. In September 2024, it imposed an anti-dumping duty on importing aluminium frames for solar panels originating or exported from China.
India will also be vocal in calling multilateral development bank reforms to improve finance access for developing countries.