Emphasising on the importance of “making financial flows consistent”, energy ministers from the G20 nations, on Saturday, urged the developed countries to fulfil their commitment of jointly mobilising $100 billion every year.
The G20 Energy Transitions Ministers’ Meeting (ETMM), which took place in Goa on Saturday, ended on a positive note with “complete agreement on 22 out of 29 paragraphs”.
The G20 ETMM Chair’s summary stated, “The importance of climate finance and making financial flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilience in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty, while enhancing international co-operation, was stressed.”
It further said, “Developed countries were urged to fulfill their commitments to deliver on the goal of jointly mobilising $100 billion per year by 2020 and through to 2025 in the context of meaningful mitigation action, with transparency on implementation. In this context, mobilisation of international public and private finance to support inclusive and sustainable energy development is key.”
Later in a press conference, Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister RK Singh said, “We emphasised (the) need for sharing of technology and for low-cost financing, especially for developing countries so that no one is left behind.”
Criticality of finances
Earlier in the day, in a video message addressing the ministerial, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also stressed on the criticality of finances. “The world looks up to this group to advance sustainable, just, affordable, inclusive, and clean energy transitions. While doing this, our brothers and sisters in the Global South must not be left behind. We must ensure low-cost finance for developing countries,” he stressed.
The ETMM document stated, “We call for increased public and private investments, noting the important role of international finance institutions including Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) in supporting developing countries to exploit the full benefits of regional/cross-border interconnections, where deemed appropriate,”
The report, Low-cost Financing for the Energy Transition, prepared under the Indian Presidency estimates that the world needs an annual investment of over $4 trillion.