COP31 Antalya: India Presses Rich Nations on Climate Finance
India's negotiators want rich countries held to Paris finance duties as a $305 billion yearly adaptation gap shadows talks that end on 20 November.
Image: Reuters
COP31 opened on 9 November in Antalya, Turkey, and India has come with one main demand: a formal decision to launch the Climate Finance Work Programme, which would hold developed countries to their Paris Agreement duty to provide predictable, largely public, concessional money. Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav set out India’s position at a briefing in New Delhi on 3 November, and The Week reported the details on 9 November. The conference runs until 20 November.
Money That Should Not Add to Debt
India argues that under Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement, rich countries must supply finance that does not add to the debt of developing ones. It also calls technology transfer an obligation of developed countries and wants the cost, intellectual property and trade barriers addressed.
On adaptation, India wants the indicators under the Global Goal on Adaptation to stay voluntary so they do not become conditions for getting finance. It plans to tie adaptation to agriculture, food security and the livelihoods of small farmers. On mitigation, India says the Global Stocktake should stay party-driven and non-punitive, with no new top-down targets, and that carbon market participation should remain voluntary.
A $305 Billion Adaptation Bill
The UNEP Adaptation Gap Report 2026 estimates that developing countries will need about $305 billion a year for adaptation by 2035. International public finance for adaptation was between $28.2 billion and $31.7 billion in 2024. Even tripling that would cover only 20 to 29 per cent of the need, and inflation could push the requirement to about $420 billion.
India will work with the G77 and China, the Like-Minded Developing Countries and the BASIC bloc, and plans a LeadIT 3.0 event with Sweden and side events on coastal resilience. More climate coverage is on the IPB News climate finance page.
Leaders Gather on 11 and 12 November
The World Leaders’ Summit is on 11 and 12 November, with more than 100 heads of state expected. Delegates from 197 countries and the European Union are attending. Turkey hosts the conference and shares leadership with Australia, whose minister Chris Bowen is President of Negotiations. Turkey is pushing an Action Agenda on clean energy, methane cuts, resilient cities and oceans, and hopes to secure an Antalya Ocean Declaration. Negotiators have until 20 November to reach consensus texts.
Source: All India Radio report on the Environment Minister’s briefing. Also based on reporting by The Week.
Image: Reuters.
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