Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Thursday said climate finance is the "make-or-break issue for climate action" and stressed that developed countries have a "moral responsibility to support the Global South" in its transition to a low-carbon economy. Addressing an event organised by FICCI, Yadav said India will require more than USD 10 trillion by 2070 to meet its net-zero target and called for global financial systems to unlock private capital while ensuring transparency, accountability and affordability.

"Public money cannot and would not be sufficient to address the scale of the problem at hand. The fiscal space is tight. The role of public budgets and concessional finance is to de-risk, crowd in and set rules that unlock private capital," he said. 

Yadav said climate finance is development finance.

"Clean power, efficient cities, climate-smart agriculture and resilient infrastructure are not add-ons -- they are the foundation of energy security, food security and industrial competitiveness," he asserted. 

Quoting United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) Executive Director Inger Andersen, he said, "Finance is the make-or-break issue for climate action. Without it, the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement will be pipe dreams." Highlighting India's achievements, Yadav said sovereign green bonds have attracted strong investor confidence, the RBI and SEBI are ensuring accountability and credibility in green instruments and blended finance mechanisms are being used to support renewable energy, electric mobility, waste-to-wealth and nature-based solutions.