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India has a valuable opportunity to advance global sustainability initiatives by fostering an international consensus on what qualifies as 'green', as the country currently has the G20 presidency with climate change as a key agenda item, Asian Lite International reported.
Ahead of the annual climate mitigation summit held last year, India said it looks forward to substantial progress on the discussions related to climate finance, particularly for developing countries, and clarity on its definition. Climate finance typically refers to any financing that aims to support mitigation and adaptation actions that will address climate change. Climate change-related issues and finding probable solutions are at the heart of ongoing G20 meetings under India's presidency. Recently global players met in Bengaluru to discuss "Mainstreaming Climate Action in Cities". Three of the six current U20 priority areas -- accelerating climate finance, ensuring water security, and encouraging environmentally responsive behaviour - were extensively discussed at the meeting, Asian Lite International reported. The conference was organised by the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, together with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The deliberations suggested that the city governments should consider climate impacts when making budgeting decisions while leveraging public-private partnerships, municipal green bonds, and other innovative financing mechanisms where available. Further, it was deliberated that climate action plans should address water security and resilience; institutional and regulatory reforms should be considered where needed to protect and revitalize vulnerable water resources, mainstream integrated urban water resource management, ensure equitable and safe access to water and reduce risk from water-related hazards like flooding, Asian Lite International cited NewsonAir report. According to Asian Lite International, the key takeaways of this conference will contribute to the U20 communique of recommendations, which will be presented to G20 negotiators later this year. India's G20 priorities include a "Green Development Pact" with a roadmap of actions over the next decade to tackle climate change and international cooperation on data for development, India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said according to the report. "We would commit to drive a consensus on a Green Development Pact of the G20 Leaders, which will be a blueprint of strong actions for the next decade powering green development all over the world," he had said earlier. The actions will include investments in sustainable lifestyles, leveraging green hydrogen for climate action, and accelerating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Asian Lite International reported citing it was reported reported by Hindustan Times. Additionally, it would provide a standardised approach for financial institutions, regulators, companies, investors, and policymakers to identify, develop, and finance green projects, thus facilitating India's green finance efforts. (ANI)
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