November 10, 2021
2 mins read

Commonwealth Secretary General lauds Modi’s green push

The reality is the current processes to access some of these international climate funds are quite difficult and arduous for capacity-constrained small states…reports Asian Lite News.

The whole Commonwealth will work together, harder and smarter to achieve the targets of the Paris Agreement, an international treaty on the climate crisis aiming to radically reduce carbon emissions.

And India is an intrinsic partner in this challenge. It is the largest member of the Commonwealth and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shown that there is a will and there is a way.

“We will work together,” Commonwealth Secretary General, Patricia Scotland, whose birthplace Caribbean island suffered tremendously when it was struck by a hurricane in 2017, said.

She is in this Scottish city to convince world leaders gather for COP26 — the 2021 edition of the UN Annual Climate Change Conference — to renew and strengthen commitments to the 2015 Paris Agreement goal of keeping warming to 1.5 degree Celsius within reach.

On mobilising finance for Commonwealth nations to cope with the impacts of climate change by building long-lasting resilience and livelihood adaptation, she told the climate finance is one of the most critical elements leaders are discussing at this climate summit COP26 in Glasgow.

“Many countries have enormous ambitions to tackle the climate crisis, through plans to phase out fossil fuels and transition to clean energy, develop climate-resilient infrastructure and transform key sectors such as agriculture to be more sustainable. But financing is required to deliver any of these strategies successfully,” the Secretary General was clear in saying. More than 10 years ago at COP15, it was agreed that developed countries should provide US$100 billion each year to help developing countries adapt to climate change and cut their own emissions. However, according to the latest figures from the OECD just under $80 billion of this has been raised in 2019, so we are clearly off-target and it is frankly not enough for the climate action needed to keep global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees.”

She candidly said the developed nations must deliver on their promises, not only to achieve results on the ground, but as a matter of trust.

The reality is the current processes to access some of these international climate funds are quite difficult and arduous for capacity-constrained small states.

This is why the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub was created in 2015 — it places highly skilled advisers in government departments to build capacity and support them in developing robust, successful funding proposals.

To date, the hub has helped countries secure about $44 million in climate finance for six countries, with projects worth US$750 million in the pipeline, she said.

Do you think vulnerability should be the core basis for allocation of climate finance, the Secretary General replied: “Vulnerability should certainly be taken into account when deploying finance to developing nations. Some nations are more vulnerable than others to the impacts of climate change, due to structural aspects beyond their control such as geography or location. In fact, this is the lived reality of many small island nations.

ALSO READ-SPECIAL: Commonwealth Supports COP26

Previous Story

Abu Dhabi Motors honours Middle East winner in Young Designer competition

Next Story

‘Glad Law Minister understands hard work put in by judges’

Latest from -Top News

Trump due in Saudi, UAE amid new tariffs

The GCC bloc, which includes the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain, has been hit with a 10% tariff, placing them among the lower-tiered rates US President Donald Trump has

China Says US Tariff Hikes Violate WTO Rules

China is among the hardest-hit, facing a 34 per cent levy—part of what Washington describes as reciprocal measures aimed at rebalancing trade deficits and curbing unfair trade practices China has strongly condemned

Modi Due in Sri Lanka to Cement Ties

Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha described the visit to island nation as “very important” and likely will set a fresh agenda for bilateral cooperation Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit

India Acts as ‘First Responder’ in Myanmar: Jaishankar

Jaishankar took the opportunity to underscore India’s swift humanitarian response, highlighting Operation Brahma, which was launched to assist those affected by the earthquake. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday expressed India’s
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Modi Unveils Mega Projects

PM opened new projects worth Rs 20,140 crore in Tamil

BJP got Rs 6,986.5 crore through poll bonds

The latest dataset released by the EC included scanned copies