India officially takes up its role as chair of the Group of 20 leading economies for the coming year on Thursday, December 1, 2022 and it’s putting climate at the top of the group’s priorities.
The G-20, made up of the world’s largest economies, has a rolling presidency with a different member state in charge of the group’s agenda and priorities each year.
As this year’s G20 summit came to a close in Bali, Indonesian President, Joko Widodo formally handed over the group’s presidency to Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
Programs to encourage sustainable living and money for countries to transition to clean energy and deal with the effects of a warming world are some of the key areas that India will focus on during its presidency.
Some experts say India will also use its new position to boost its climate credentials and act as a bridge between the interests of industrialized nations and developing ones.
The country has made considerable moves toward its climate goals in recent years but is currently one of the world’s top emitters of planet-warming gases.
Experts believe India will use the “big stage” of the G-20 presidency to drive forward its climate and development plans.
Samir Sarin, President of the Observer Research Foundation, said the country “will focus heavily on responding to the current and future challenges posed by climate change.”
The Observer Research Foundation is a New Delhi-based think tank. The ORF will be anchoring the T-20; a group of think tanks from the 20 member countries whose participants meet alongside the G-20.
Sarin divulged that India will work to ensure that money is flowing from rich industrialized nations to emerging economies to help them combat global warming.
This includes a promise of $100 billion a year for clean energy and adapting to climate change for poorer nations that has not yet been fulfilled and a recent pledge to vulnerable countries that there will be a fund for the loss and damage caused by extreme weather
India To Use G20 Presidency To Push “Mission Life” Program
Sarin reiterated that India will also use the presidency to champion its flagship “Mission Life” program that encourages more sustainable lifestyles in the country, which is set to soon become most populous in the world.
When outgoing chair Indonesia formally handed the presidency to India in Bali last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the opportunity to promote the program, saying it could make “a big contribution” by turning sustainable living into “a mass movement.”
Experts assert that the G-20 will also be looking closely at alternative means to getting climate finance. The group could possibly take a leaf out of the Bridgetown initiative proposed by the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley.
This initiative involves unlocking large sums of money from multilateral development banks and international financial institutions to help countries adapt to climate change and transition to cleaner energy.
ORF’s Sarin said that as G-20 chair India can propel the discussion on the initiative.
Developing countries are often charged higher rates of interest when borrowing from global financial institutions. Readjusting global finance to make renewable energy more affordable in the developing world is key to curbing climate change, Sarin suggested.
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