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India slams developed nations at COP30 over unmet climate finance obligations
At the COP30 summit in Belém, Brazil, India delivered one of its strongest messages to date, accusing developed nations of systematically failing to meet their climate finance duties. Speaking through its negotiator Suman Chandra on behalf of the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDCs), India argued that this failure is severely impeding the green transition and climate mitigation/adaptation efforts of the highly climate-vulnerable Global South. Without adequate, scaled-up, and long-term funding—which developed nations are legally obliged to provide—developing countries face immense difficulty in achieving their ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.
India specifically criticized the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), a new annual financial target of at least $300 billion per year by 2035 adopted at COP29. India asserts that the NCQG ignores the binding responsibility placed on developed countries by Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement to provide financial resources. India insists that climate finance must be a formal, predictable, and legally mandated obligation, not a voluntary act or development aid disguised as climate funding. To achieve this, India demands that Article 9.1 be formally negotiated at COP30 and that richer nations clearly define climate finance, backing it with grants, concessional loans, and multi-year projections.
India reiterated that equity, climate justice, and multilateralism are the core priorities for COP30, viewing finance and technology access as essential rights, not favors. The nation noted that obligations under Article 9.3 (requiring developed countries to lead in resource mobilization) remain unmet. Furthermore, India raised concerns over the integrity of reporting, noting that several developed countries have provided outdated data and even reduced their contributions in their respective reports. This intervention underscores India's consistent stance, previously highlighted at COP29, that the initial $100 billion pledge remains unmet and that new targets like the $300 billion goal risk becoming another financial "illusion" without clear legal accountability. (India Today)
Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF): The Global Forest Fund at COP30
The COP30 summit in Belém, Brazil, is dominated by the launch of a major new global financial mechanism: the Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF), or the Global Forest Fund. The TFFF represents a crucial shift in climate strategy, moving from simply discussing the need to curb deforestation to creating a system that actively pays tropical-forest nations to preserve standing forest cover. Brazil, as the host nation, along with Indonesia, has already committed $1 billion each, and Norway has pledged the largest amount to date at $3 billion, demonstrating initial government support.
The fund's primary goal is to mobilize up to $125 billion, aiming for an initial capitalization of $25 billion from governments and philanthropy, with the remainder sought from private sector investment. In concept, the TFFF will operate as an endowment, with the World Bank tapped as the trustee and financial manager. The mechanics are designed to be simple: countries would receive payments—the proposed initial rate being around $4 per hectare preserved—with deductions made for any forest area lost. Critically, $20\%$ of the payout is specifically earmarked for indigenous and local communities, recognizing their essential role as forest stewards.
The need for the TFFF is urgent, as global efforts are falling behind the 2030 goal to halt deforestation. A 2024 assessment found that approximately $6.7$ million hectares of primary tropical forest were lost in that year alone. While the fund offers a strong incentive for preservation, its success hinges on several key challenges: securing the ambitious target funding from both public and private sectors, ensuring transparency and that payments effectively reach local communities, and establishing robust, verifiable methods for monitoring and confirming "no deforestation" claims. The launch of the TFFF at COP30 is seen as the boldest financial bet yet on forests as a climate solution, testing the limits of global political will. (India Today)
India boosts carbon sink capacity: Aligning domestic action with global climate goals
India has shown significant progress in its climate mitigation efforts by increasing its forest and tree cover to 25.17% of its total geographical area. This increase, documented between 2005 and 2021, has successfully created an additional 2.29 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent carbon sink. This achievement was highlighted by LS Rathore, former director of the India Meteorological Department, during a recent address, linking India's domestic conservation success to its broader global climate strategy.
Rathore emphasized that India’s actions are part of a necessity rooted in the scientific consensus established by the IPCC's First Assessment Report, which provided "unequivocal evidence of the enhanced greenhouse effect" and helped define global mitigation strategies. He underscored the IPCC’s role in assessing climate science, synthesizing technical knowledge on impacts and adaptation, and guiding international negotiations. On the policy front, India's strategy includes the implementation of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), which is crucial for integrating mitigation frameworks and adaptation strategies, particularly those addressing climate change impacts on agriculture.
The speaker stressed that achieving global climate goals requires international cooperation. He called for a concentrated effort to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through collective action on energy efficiency, wider renewable energy adoption, the use of climate-friendly technologies, and the enhancement of natural carbon sinks. This appeal reinforces India's consistent position at international forums that global challenges require collaborative technological and financial support to transition away from high-carbon energy pathways effectively. (The Times of India)
Reforming penalties for forest violations: Introduction of penal compensatory afforestation and NPV
The Union Environment Ministry’s Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) has recommended rationalization and uniformity in penal provisions for violations of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 (formerly the Forest Conservation Act). The issue was first taken up in 2018 because the absence of common guidelines led to different penalties being imposed for similar violations. The Act is violated when forest land is diverted for non-forestry use, such as de-reservation or clear felling, without prior Central approval. The key goal of the FAC's recommendation is to ensure consistency and proportionality in enforcement across all cases.
The FAC’s latest recommendation, issued in October 2025, mandates penal compensatory afforestation (CA) on an equal extent of the forest land involved in the violation, to be charged in addition to other penal provisions. Penal CA refers to restoration efforts ordered above the standard compensatory afforestation required for legal land diversion. The policy must now be rationalized with the existing penal Net Present Value (NPV) framework. NPV quantifies the environmental services of the forest area used; current rules levy a penal NPV of up to five times the regular NPV for contravening the law.
Historically, penal CA (often stipulated at twice the area violated) was ordered on a case-to-case basis. However, with the introduction of the penal NPV (based on 2017 Supreme Court directions and incorporated into the 2023 Rules), the FAC found it imperative to clearly define the combined applicability of both measures. The FAC also recommended that when State Governments confirm a violation has occurred, they must send a detailed report to the Ministry headquarters, including details of the individuals who permitted the offense and the action taken against them under the law. (Indian Express)
NGT directs quarterly water audits for Tambaram
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued stringent directives to the Tambaram Corporation in Tamil Nadu to prevent the recurrence of water contamination incidents, following the hospitalization and deaths of several people last year. A bench comprising Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and expert member Prashant Gargava has instructed the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to conduct quarterly water quality audits. Crucially, the NGT also mandated systematic inspections of the drinking water pipelines to ensure their structural integrity, emphasizing that a continuous and scientifically monitored preventive framework is essential for public health protection.
The NGT focused on the significant infrastructural stress faced by Tambaram, a rapidly urbanizing corporation serving over 10.11 lakh residents across 70 wards. The Tribunal observed a major gap in sanitation coverage: only 38 out of 70 wards are serviced by an Underground Sewerage System (UGSS). In the unserviced areas, households rely on septic tanks and open drains that often discharge into natural canals. The bench noted that this situation creates a persistent risk of cross-contamination, particularly where aging drinking water pipelines and sewer lines run parallel or intersect, concluding that the structural deficiencies pose a perpetual risk regardless of the final cause of last year's incident.
To address these systemic vulnerabilities, the NGT ordered the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD) to immediately begin preparing Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) to extend the UGSS to all remaining wards. TWAD must submit quarterly progress updates to the TNPCB. Furthermore, the state government was directed to ensure the timely release of sanctioned funds to expedite UGSS and Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) projects. The NGT also ordered continued community health surveillance, including health camps and awareness programs in vulnerable neighbourhoods, reinforcing that mere denial of past contamination is not a solution to structural deficiencies. (India News Stream)
This is a roundup of policy updates from November 1, 2025 to November 15, 2025. Read our news updates here