Why India wants a trillion dollars from rich nations to go green

India is willing to go green but the net zero title comes with big cost and the country wants the 'rich nations' to pick up the tab. The climate finance bill for India alone (the world's third biggest emitter) is $1 trillion.

An Indian delegate told HT “ We will need $1 trillion till 2030 mainly for renewable energy and storage; decarbonisation of industrial sector and adaptation. Let’s be clear that India will not update its nationally determined contributions (NDCs) till there is clarity on climate finance. We are in no mood to submit them until these issues are resolved.”

India's demand is ten times more than the unmet $100 billion a year for all poor countries sought under previous deals reports Bloomberg. Over a decade, that would mean advanced economies have to give India the same amount of funds they’ve promised for all poor countries.

India has still not submitted their official climate pledges to the UN in documents know as nationally determined contributions despite PM Modi's surprising pledge of net-zero for India as the climate finance details remains murky.

Led by the US, developed countries pledged $100 billion climate financing at COP15 in 2009 for them to shift to a low-carbon future and fund their climate mitigation and adaptability plans which India has reiterated is not adequate to cover the costs of 'abandoning' coal for a growing nation.