India was among 13 countries and a regional alliance of African countries that announced plans to set up a national platform for “climate and nature finance” at a ministerial event during COP30 underway in Belem, Brazil, on Saturday (November 15, 2025). This would be coordinated through the Green Climate Fund (GCF), an institutional mechanism that has been at work since 2015, to fund projects in developing countries to adapt to unfolding climate change as well as to invest in clean energy.

Despite being the world’s largest institutional mechanism for disbursing funds for climate finance, with commitments worth $19 billion, only a quarter of it has been properly allocated as of 2024. The GCF faces criticism from developing countries that its disbursal mechanisms are often difficult to comply with and there is limited technical support to avail these funds.

A stated goal of the GCF is to ensure that its funds are evenly split between adaptation and mitigation.

The Belem ministerial event, co-hosted by Brazil’s Ministry of Finance and the GCF, brought together ministers and other senior government officials as well as international, national, public, and private climate finance leaders.

Away from ‘fragmented approach’

While India already engages with the GCF, it is believed that a new ‘country platform’ for “climate and nature finance” would help the country move away from a “fragmented approach” towards accessing funds. This is especially significant in a year when calls from developing countries for prioritising adaptation and improving access to climate finance are particularly resonant, especially at the ongoing proceedings of COP30. The Hindu reached out to the Environment Ministry for more clarity on the country platform but did not receive a comment until press time.

Halfway through negotiations on Saturday (November 15, 2025), India was leading developing countries’ clamour for a focussed discussion and roadmap on a section of the Paris Agreement called Article 9.1 that mandates developed countries provide funds for mitigation and adaptation.

The announcement of such a platform also ties in with expectations that negotiators may finalise a list of indicators that can be used to measure progress towards the so-called Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA). Progress on producing an agreed list of indicators has been difficult, with nearly 90 experts working over two years to narrow down a list of almost 10,000 potential indicators to a final set of just 100, which is supposed to be adopted at COP30, according to a report by Molly Lempriere, an analyst for Carbon Brief, an agency that tracks climate negotiations.

However, with India, among other countries expected to announce National Adaptation Plans, there is greater vocal support and interest in having a concrete outcome on the GGA.

GCF’s India commitments

Announcing their country and regional platforms, representatives from the African Islands States Climate Commission (AISCC), Cambodia, Colombia, India, Kazakhstan, Lesotho, Mongolia, Nigeria, Oman, Panama, Rwanda, the Dominican Republic, Togo, and South Africa shared their vision and strategies for leveraging country platforms to accelerate climate action. This brings the number of platforms to 16, with the previously established Brazil Country Platform and Caribbean Regional Platform, according to a note from the GCF.

As of August 2024, India has received commitment from the GCF for 11 projects/programmes worth $782 million to mitigate and adapt to climate change in sectors, including water, clean energy, coastal, livelihood, transport, medium and small enterprises and climate start-ups. A bulk of the financing is in the form of concessional loans.

India’s Environment Ministry is the primary access point (or the Nodal Designated Authority) for GCF-linked funding. While being a recipient of funds, it has sought expertise in being able to equip State governments and private entities in the country to be able to effectively engage with the NDA and the GCF to access these funds.

The new initiative will be guided by a steering committee with a majority of representatives from developing countries. Organisationally, the Country Platforms Hub will operate through a lean secretariat, supported by the Africa Climate Foundation (ACF) during its incubation period. Initial funding amounts to nearly $4 million and will support early activities, including governance, coordination, knowledge sharing, and a spark plug window for designing early-stage national platforms.

Published – November 16, 2025 07:40 pm IST

Panama Climate Envoy Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, left, and Wopke Hoekstra, EU climate commissioner, attend a session on climate targets during the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
| Photo Credit: Sergei Grits

A new draft text released early on Thursday (November 21, 2024) which will form the basis of any deal reached at United Nations climate talks on money for developing countries to transition to clean energy and adapt to climate change left out a crucial sticking point: how much wealthy nations will pay.

Negotiators at the talks — known as COP29 — in Baku, Azerbaijan, are trying to close the gap between the $1.3 trillion the developing world says is needed in climate finance and the few hundred billion that richer nations have been prepared to pay.

Ali Mohamed, chair of the African Group of Negotiators told The Associated Press on Thursday (November 21, 2024) that how much money is on the table “is most critical” to finding a deal, and that’s what’s missing from the draft deal.

The draft text “presents two extreme ends of the aisle without much in between,” said Li Shuo, Asia Society Policy Institute Director. “Other than capturing the ground standing of both sides, this text hardly does anything more.”

Mohamed Adow, director of the think tank Power Shift Africa, expressed disappointment in the draft. “We came here to talk about money. The way you measure money is with numbers. We need a cheque but all we have right now is a blank piece of paper,” he said.

Independent experts say that at least $1 trillion is needed in finance to help transition away from planet-warming fossil fuels and toward clean energy like solar and wind, better adapt to the effects of climate change and pay for losses and damages caused by extreme weather.

There are three big parts of the issue where negotiators need to find agreement: How big the numbers are, how much is grants or loans, and who contributes.

Rob Moore, associate director at European think tank E3G said that “negotiators need to make a huge amount of progress over the next few days”, particularly on the issue of how much.

 Also read | COP29: India voices dissent on ‘discriminatory trade barriers linked to carbon emissions

Official observers of the talks from the International Institute of Sustainable Development who are allowed to sit in on the closed meetings reported that negotiators have now agreed on not expanding the list of countries that will contribute to global climate funds — at least at these talks. Linda Kalcher, of the think tank Strategic Partnerships, said on the question of grants or loans, the draft text suggests “the need for grants and better access to finance”.

She added that the lack of numbers in the draft text could be a “bluff”. The COP29 presidency, which prepares the texts “should know more…than what they put on the table”, she said.

Andreas Sieber, associate director of global policy and campaigns at the environmental group 350.org said the text handed down this morning included a range of options, some bad, some good. “I’m pretty nervous that there are still so many outstanding options. There is a lot to be decided by ministers,” he said.

But Iskander Erzini Vernoit, director of Moroccan climate think-tank Imal Initiative for Climate and Development, said he was “at a loss for words at how disappointed we are at this stage to have come this far without serious numbers on the table and serious engagement from the developed countries”.

He said that some developed nations “are slowly waking up” to the fact that keeping warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times will require over a trillion dollars in finance. “But many are still asleep at the wheel,” he said.

Experts said on Thursday (Nov. 21) that a deal is still a long way off, and the summit appeared headed toward the same drama and overtime finish as seen in previous years.

BASIC countries, including India, have asked developed countries to honour their commitments to provide climate finance rather than “diluting obligations” and rejected attempts by the rich nations to shift their financial responsibilities during negotiations at the ongoing COP29
| Photo Credit: Reuters

BASIC countries, including India, have asked developed countries to honour their commitments to provide climate finance rather than “diluting obligations” and rejected attempts by the rich nations to shift their financial responsibilities during negotiations at the ongoing COP29 here.

As the annual climate change summit entered the fourth day on Thursday (November 14, 2024), Brazil, South Africa, India and China (BASIC) also reiterated the need to fully implement the Paris Agreement 2015, a legally binding international treaty.

The Paris Agreement aims at substantially reducing global greenhouse gas emissions to hold global temperature increase to well below 2 degrees Celsius and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels (with a baseline 1850-1900).

India, Egypt, and the Independent Alliance of Latin America and the Caribbean (AILAC) also called for clear pathways to convert financial pledges into binding contribution agreements.

Through the negotiations on Wednesday (November 13, 2024) and Thursday (November 14, 2024), the G-77/CHINA grouping which also includes India called for a balanced New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance that is responsive to developing countries’ needs.

The grouping also sought a technology implementation programme supported by the operating entities of the Financial Mechanism.

The developed countries have emphasised the importance of increasing global climate ambition and have called for all nations, including emerging economies, to enhance their net-zero targets and implementation efforts.

However, these rich nations are facing criticism for not fully delivering on their own commitments, particularly regarding climate finance and support for developing countries.

In response, India, along with Brazil, South Africa and China as part of BASIC bloc, reiterated the need for full and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement.

“The BASIC bloc rejected attempts by developed countries to shift their financial responsibilities,” multiple negotiators confirmed to PTI.

The poor, developing countries also asked rich, developed countries to honour their commitments to provide climate finance rather than “diluting obligations”, a negotiator from Brazil said.

Meanwhile, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) added that current financial pledges fall far short of what’s necessary for meaningful climate action, underscoring a call for urgent and scaled-up contributions.

With these pressures mounting, the co-chairs of COP29 announced they would prepare a draft decision to formalise these arrangements under both the COP (the Conference of Parties) and the CMA (Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement) frameworks, another negotiator said.

The Arab Group and the Republic of Korea further stressed that guidance for parties must align strictly with the Paris Agreement’s terms, defending the autonomy of nationally determined contributions (NDCs), actions taken by each nation to restrict greemnhouse gases’ emissions to collectively keep temperature rise under check.

India opposed any new top-down regulations imposed under the guise of “features,” arguing that they compromise national sovereignty in climate commitments.

“Developed countries, including Japan and the U.S., pushed for the quantification of climate goals by all nations and advocated aligning targets with the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold — a position supported by the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) but opposed by India,” a negotiator said.

As discussions moved forward, the Arab Group urged developed countries to ramp up their financial support, while India, AILAC, and Egypt emphasised that developed nations must deliver on promised climate finance by formalising their pledges as binding contribution agreements.

Amid intense negotiations, the co-chairs extended the schedule to resolve these critical issues and pave the way for an ambitious, actionable financial framework.

The story so far: The 2024 Union Budget, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday, includes developing a taxonomy for climate finance to enhance the availability of capital for climate adaptation and mitigation.

“This will support achievement of the country’s climate commitments and green transition,” Ms. Sitharaman said in her speech.

What is taxonomy for climate finance?

Climate finance taxonomy refers to a set of standardised regulations and guidelines to inform companies and investors on making impactful investments towards environmental conservation and combating the climate crisis.

The term taxonomy originally comes from the field of biology. It is the scientific method of naming and classifying organisms, including plants, animals, and microorganisms.

According to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, “diverse interpretations fragment markets and confuse investors. What seems ‘green’ in one country may appear ‘brown’ elsewhere, stalling environmental progress,”

Taxonomies for sustainable climate financing, in general, include a detailed list of economic sectors and activities and corresponding criteria that determine if it aligns with larger climate goals.

“There are two dimensions to a taxonomy: the system itself in all its complexity, and the final product (boiled down to its pragmatic essentials) as it will be used by financial market participants and other users. Users of taxonomies and definitions are not necessarily interested in understanding why a given metric or threshold must be used for an activity. Rather, they will use the taxonomies and definitions as a final product and screen activities to determine eligibility under the taxonomy,” according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Also read: Boost financing for green projects

Climate finance taxonomies are known as ‘green’ taxonomies.

Why is climate finance taxonomy important?

Climate financing forms a core area of combating the climate crisis. According to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC’s) first ‘Needs Determination Report’, financing of around $5.8-5.9 trillion is required to implement developing countries’ climate action plans by 2030, and this does not fully include adaptation costs.

Climate finance taxonomies can facilitate financing for investors, credit institutions etc. based on how climate-aligned an entity or an activity is. It can therefore direct financial resources towards projects that support climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Green taxonomies help investors compare investment opportunities and measure their environmental impact.  A localised climate finance taxonomy can also help align a country’s climate goals with the Paris Agreement and other international climate commitments while accounting for regional factors that influence localised transition pathways.

For example, different regions will have to adopt different pathways to reach the goal of limiting global warming to under 1.5 degrees C, as required under the Paris Agreement. A one-size-fits-all approach won’t work here, and where localised taxonomies on climate finance can help. Science-based targets at the regional level can help define metrics, based on which experts can develop standards and investors can determine their financial commitments, all without compromising on global climate goals.

Climate finance taxonomies can also help prevent greenwashing by companies by setting common standards based on scientific assessments.

“The development of a taxonomy for climate finance is crucial for establishing clear standards. It ensures that investments are transparently and efficiently directed towards genuine green projects, driving innovation and supporting India’s ambitious climate goals,” Harjeet Singh, Global Engagement Director for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, told The Hindu.

Many countries like China, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka have already issued green taxonomies to facilitate climate-sensitive investments.

Editorial | Towards a green growth: On the RBI and a green taxonomy

What has India done to set up a green taxonomy?

In January 2021, India established a task force on sustainable finance under the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, to create a framework for sustainable finance in India, establish the pillars for a sustainable finance roadmap, suggest draft taxonomy of sustainable activities, and create a framework of risk assessment by the financial sector.

In April that year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) joined the Central Banks and Supervisors Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) as a member. RBI is also a member of a task force on climate-related financial risks set up by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, and the International Platform on Sustainable Finance.

Why does India need a green taxonomy?

According to the IFC, India needs an estimated $10.1 trillion to achieve net-zero by 2070. Public investments alone can’t match this goal, which calls for standardisation in investments.

“A green taxonomy framework could significantly help India attract both domestic and international investments, aligning these funds with its national and global commitments to a green transition and enhanced climate resilience,” Mr. Singh said.

“Investors and industry have been demanding a taxonomy and transition pathway as guidance for flow of finance and reorientation of economic activity. The Budget announcements that clearly mention the establishment of a carbon market, taxonomy and transition pathways mark significant progress in planning towards net zero in 2070,” Suranjali Tandon, an associate professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, said.