India Urges Developed Nations to Honor Paris Agreement Finance Obligations at COP30
Demands trillions in climate cash, warns against trade traps.
At the opening plenary of COP30 in Belém, Brazil, India delivered a powerful message on behalf of the BASIC and LMDC groups, declaring that the core architecture of the Paris Agreement must remain untouched and that developed nations are legally bound to deliver massive, predictable climate finance to developing countries. Speaking firmly, India stressed that equity and common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR-RC) are non-negotiable pillars of global climate justice.
India warned that climate finance remains the greatest obstacle to ambitious action, demanding a crystal-clear definition of what qualifies as climate finance and a fifteen-fold increase in public funding for adaptation to protect billions of vulnerable people who contributed least to global warming. It reminded developed nations of their binding obligation under Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement to provide financial resources, technology transfer, and capacity building without conditions or loopholes.
The country called for the immediate removal of intellectual property barriers and market restrictions that block affordable access to clean technologies in the Global South. India urged developed nations to accelerate their own net-zero timelines, invest heavily in negative emissions solutions, and honor long-overdue commitments instead of shifting burdens onto poorer countries still fighting poverty and underdevelopment.
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India strongly opposed unilateral climate-related trade measures like the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, warning that such policies risk becoming protectionist tools that violate Article 3.5 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. It argued that forcing developing nations to pay for low-carbon transitions undermines climate finance promises and punishes those least responsible for historical emissions.
With Brazil’s COP30 Presidency holding informal consultations on contentious issues like finance obligations, the 1.5°C implementation gap, and trade measures, India’s intervention has set the tone for a hard-fought summit. As the voice of the Global South, India made clear that any outcome weakening multilateralism, equity, or legal commitments will be unacceptable.
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