Lima Climate Conference: Environment minister Prakash Javadekar calls for “invest in India”

LIMA: Environment minister Prakash Javadekar has made a strong pitch to the global community for investing in India. In an intervention during a high-level ministerial discussion at the climate talks in Lima, Javadekar called on industrialised countries to tap into their financial markets, long-term pension funds and bond markets to invest in the huge opportunities that India's plans for clean air, energy, water and habitations present.

The minister's call marks a shift from India's stance in the past, when the government used to insist that climate finance be sourced only from public money or by treasuries. The Narendra Modi-led NDA government sees a role for private funds in containing climate change even as it maintains that funds provided by governments from their treasuries should drive climate finance.

"This cannot be a substitute for predictable public finances of a sufficient size but it is a complementary way," Javadekar said. The "size of public financial resources is much bigger" than the $10 billion of the United Nations' Green Climate Fund (GCF) or even the $100 billion by 2020 promised by industrialised countries in Copenhagen in 2009, the minister said as he argued that developing countries need $600-$1,500 billion a year to combat climate changes. "Finance is a key enabler of ambition and action," Javadekar said, adding that it is necessary to look at innovative ways to enhance global climate finance given the range of climate-related demands and the enormous financial and technological inputs required for mitigation.

A senior official said that the minister's pitch was aimed at pension funds with a corpus of trillions of dollars and the cash-rich global green bond market that would like to invest in a country like India that promises higher returns. "So what India is saying is that the governments in developed countries leverage these large funds and invest in India's efforts," said the official, who did not wish to be named.

India, which is represented on the GCF board, also acknowledged the fund's initial capitalisation. "I am glad to see some recent momentum building. We are glad to note that parties have pledged $10 billion in initial resources for the climate fund," the minister said.