US climate withdrawal spurs rethink on green funding

Govt will focus on tapping other multilateral and bilateral means, besides private sector

- Vijay C. Roy & Rituraj Baruah

India is revising its climate finance playbook following the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement earlier this year, a senior government official said, with a focus on tapping other multilateral and bilateral arrangements besides the private sector.

The development comes at a time when global sustainability and climate change efforts have been dented by the 20 January US decision to pull out of the Paris climate change accord.

Some key funding avenues the Centre would look at include Indo-German bilateral partnership, Green Climate Fund (GCF), Global Environment Facility (GEF), multilateral development banks (MDBs) such as Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

Strategic collaboration between such institutions and Indian financial entities would be crucial in facilitating access to finance for climate action.