COP29 meet: Cannot accept attempts to shift focus from finance, says India

India said on Thursday that it will not accept any effort by developed countries to shift the focus away from climate finance for developing countries and place it on emissions reductions in the Global South. It also said that without adequate support in terms of finance, technology, and capacity building, the fight against climate change would be severely impacted. In response to the draft text on the new climate finance goal released early Thursday, India's Environment and Climate Secretary Leena Nandan said the shift in focus at a time when it is crucial to ensure full support for mitigation actions through adequate finance is disappointing. "COP after COP, we keep talking about mitigation ambitions, what is to be done without talking about how it is to be done. This COP started with a focus on enablement through a new climate finance goal (NCQG), but as we move towards the end, we see shifting of the focus to mitigation," she said. Nandan, who is leading the Indian delegation a