$6.852 trillion of climate finance required until 2030: UN Needs Determination Report  

Climate finance of $5.012-6.852 trillion cumulatively will be required until 2030 to support developing nations to achieve their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), said the second Needs Determination Report (NDR) released by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The first NDR released in 2021 at COP 24, for the first time laid out a figure for the quantum of climate finance needed by developing countries: $5.8-5.9 trillion until 2030, which was much more than the previous $100 billion per year goal until 2020 (later extended to 2025). 

In order to actualise the historical financial responsibility of the developed world and to fulfill the needs of developing countries, the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance is expected to be decided at COP29 in Azerbaijan this year. The second NDR will help calculate an estimate in line with the actual needs of developing countries.

The ‘Costed needs’ pointed out in the report are important to ascertain the quantum of finance required by developing countries to undertake climate action. Only 98 of 142 countries  have reported their costed needs, which implies that the entirety of the needs of developing countries would be much greater, the report pointed out. The first NDR identified costed needs of only 48 countries amounting to $5.8-5.9 trillion. Therefore, second NDR’s updated estimation of $6.8 trillion is more representative of the actual needs. 

The report explained that $2.4 trillion (48% of the total costed needs) was for conditional actions, whereas $882 billion (18%) was for unconditional actions. The remaining $1.8 trillion remained unspecific about the conditionality. Conditional actions, which are the bulk of costed needs, are to be fulfilled via international support in the form of finance, technology transfer and capacity building, the report said. 

India asks for exact definition of climate finance 

India said the world has to close the inequality gap between countries on the issue of technology and finance to achieve the joint goal of tackling climate change and an exact definition of climate finance is needed. The Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav said the goal of raising $100 billion annually has become outdated from the point of view of providing resources to developing countries. “India has always said that for increasing capacity building, there should be an exact definition of climate finance,” he said.

Yadav’s comments come a day after Azerbaijan, the host of this year’s Conference of Parties 29 (COP) summit, the annual United Nations climate conference, announced that it will launch a new fund to support developing countries in their actions against climate change, reported the Indian Express. 

Centre won’t share forest clearance details of security projects on govt website  

The Centre announced that details of projects related to the country’s internal and external security to which it grants environmental clearance will not be available on its PARIVESH portal, in the interests of security and confidentiality, HT reported. 

The clarification from the Union environment ministry came in response to a July query from the Union home ministry on guidelines for projects exempted under the Forest Conservation Amendment Act or Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980.

HT reported that Section 1A of the Act that was amended in 2023 exempted some projects from forest clearance requirement such as: strategic linear ones of national importance and concerning national security within 100 km from international borders; those related to infrastructure involving forest land up to five hectares notified by home ministry; and those involving 0.1 hectares of forest land meant for proving connectivity road/rail side amenities, newspaper reported. 

Centre’s panel to review Great Nicobar project’s green clearance questioned 

The Centre did not include an independent reviewer after the National Green Tribunal ordered the review of environmental clearances to the proposed $72,000-crore mega infrastructure project Great Nicobar Island (GNI) plan. This despite the green court giving the government flexibility to do so, reported DTE citing former Environment minister Jairam Ramesh’s letter to  Environment minister Bhupender Yadav.

“…the High-Powered Committee (HPC) constituted by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), in pursuance of the NGT’s directive to review environmental and Coastal Regulation Zone clearances, did not associate any independent institution or expert when the NGT had given it the flexibility to do so,” DTE quoted Ramesh’s letter adding that the review committee members — from NITI Aayog, ANIIDCO, MOEF&CC and MOEF&CC’s Expert Appraisal Committee — were part of either the project planning, or, execution and even earlier clearance granting processes. 

The outlet reported that Yadav, in response to an earlier letter by Ramesh, claimed that the decision to clear the project had been taken “only after due deliberations and after incorporating exemplary mitigation measures … keeping the strategic, national and defence interests in mind and without compromising with the environmental and social aspects”

First tranche of Loss and Damage fund ready to be disbursed in 2025

The Loss and Damage Fund board completed leg work to distribute climate adaptation aid to vulnerable nations to fight climate impacts. The board made key decisions in Baku that will allow the fund, years in the making, to begin disbursing money in 2025 to countries hit hardest by climate disasters, reported the HT.

Senegalese banker Ibrahima Cheikh Diong has been picked to lead the fund. Diong has experience in development banking, government and insurance against climate disasters in Africa, reported Climate Home News. 

Germany cut climate finance for poor countries by 12% in 2023

Germany is gearing up to face tough climate finance questions at the upcoming COP29 in Azerbaijan given that the government cut 12% of its budget for climate aid in developing countries. 

Bloomberg reported Germany’s contribution to “green projects” overseas fell in 2023 to a 12% cut in the development ministry’s budget, which is responsible for the lion’s share of international aid contributions. The outlet said the German government set aside €5.7 billion for climate protection and mitigation in emerging markets in 2023 (in 2022 it was €6.4 billion) that’s less than the €6 billion Scholz promised Germany would pay annually from 2025.

India State of Forest Report delayed by a year: Concerns rise over forest data integrity

The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) has been delayed by more than a year. It was supposed to be out in 2023, leading to widespread speculation of major reduction in forest cover, DTE reported, adding that Centre has not responded to its RTI plea on the issue of the delay. 

The outlet explained that the report, which is released every two years, is produced by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). It has been published since 1991 and provides a comprehensive overview of the state of India’s forests. “It’s likely that forest cover has diminished significantly, which may be why the government is reluctant to release the report,” a senior official told DTE.

The last report, published in 2021, recorded the country’s total forest cover at 713,789 sqkm or 21.71/% — a marginal increase of 1,540 sqkm compared to the 2019 ISFR publication. While the National Forest Policy aims for 33.3% of land in plains and 66.6% in hilly regions to be forested to achieve environmental stability and ecological balance, DTE report said. This comes after retired officials from the forest and environment departments, along with environmental activists, approached the Supreme Court to challenge amendments to the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023.

Biodiversity finance increased but came mostly as loans, says OECD

Finance for development of global biodiversity grew in 2022, but most of it was in the form of loans, reported Climate Home, which cited new figures from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The OECD report, the outlet said, analysed the period from 2015 to 2022, showing that funding for efforts to protect and restore nature grew from $11.1 billion in 2021 to $15.4 billion in 2022.

The news portal noted that the increase came largely from multilateral institutions – mainly development banks – which increased their funding from $2.7 billion in 2021 to $5.7 billion in 2022, mostly by offering concessional loans (cheaper than commercial terms).

The outlet explained that the issue of whether loan finance should be provided to already debt-strapped developing countries for action on climate and nature is hotly debated, with poorer countries and climate justice activists calling for more money to be disbursed as grants.

UN chief’s ‘Summit of Future’ calls for end to fossil fuels , ‘deep, rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in line with 1.5 degrees’

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a 42-page “Pact for the Future” which UN secretary-general António Guterres described as a landmark agreement that is a “step-change towards more effective, inclusive, networked multilateralism”, Reuters reported. The newswire added that the pact, which also includes an annex on working toward a responsible and sustainable digital future, was adopted without a vote at the start of a two-day ‘Summit of the Future’. 

The outlet said the agreement came after some nine months of negotiations. The pact recommended peace and security, global governance, sustainable development, climate change, digital cooperation, human rights, gender, youth and future generations. It laid out some 56 broad actions that countries pledged to achieve, Reuters reported, adding that the pact said global crises have spotlighted the need for UN reform and overhauling international financial systems. The pact identified challenges that included ongoing wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan; lagging climate change mitigation efforts. The document said “the transition away from fossil fuels [is] key to fighting climate change”.

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