India expects a clear roadmap on climate finance at COP28, says foreign secretary

New Delhi: India "expects a clear roadmap to be agreed at the Conference of Parties or COP28 on climate finance, which will be important for delivering on the new collective quantified goals", foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra said at a special briefing on Thursday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for Dubai to attend the World Climate Action Summit.

The Prime Minister will deliver his address at the opening session of the World Climate Action Summit on Friday. "Besides his address to the COP28, the Prime Minister will also be participating in three high-level side events, of which two are being co-hosted by India," the foreign secretary said.

Mr Kwatra said: "The first high-level event, which is being co-hosted by India and the UAE, is the launch of the Green Credits Initiative. The Green Credits Initiative is based on the Green Credit Programme, which was notified by the ministry of environment in October this year and basically envisions the issue of green credits for plantations on waste and degraded lands and the river catchment areas in order to restore their vitality."

The foreign secretary added: "The second side event, co-hosted by India and Sweden, is the launch of Lead IT 2.0, essentially a leadership group for industry transition... with the objective of accelerating the industry transition to net-zero emissions essentially from heavy industries."