Investment flows are not automatically climate finance: India

The government on Monday said investment flows in themselves cannot be treated as finance for climate-friendly technologies unless specifically designated as such.

"We have been saying that investment flow is not climate change finance. Investment flow in any case happens, and that is in anticipation of return of investment," said Susheel Kumar, additional secretary in the environment ministry.

He said this during an interaction here with visiting French special envoy for Conference of Parties (COP)-21, Laurence Tubiana, organised by industry chamber Ficci.

"Therefore, investment per se, unless it is on differentiated interest to promote climate-friendly technologies, can't be considered as climate finance," he said.

India and other developing countries have maintained that climate fund should be through public funding.

"What should be climate finance is either public funding or some kind of a subvention for the industry to adopt climate-friendly technologies," Kumar said.

COP-21 is seen as a crucial conference, as it needs to achieve a new international climate change agreement applicable to all countries, with the aim of keeping the rise in temperature under 2 degrees centigrade from that in the pre-industrial period.

France will host and preside over the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change from November 30 to December 11, 2015.

The French special envoy said efforts are being made to ensure that developed countries fulfil the promises they made to mobile climate fund.

"However, the question remains whether to raise the quantum of climate fund post-2020 or should we have net target...all these issues need to be addressed before the Paris meeting,"

Tubiana said.

"We can't wait for 20 years to get technologies. It is too long. We don't have time. We should come forward with ideas as to how we can build a cooperation mechanism to get everybody on board," she added.

The Special Envoy of the French President for the Protection of the Plant, Nicolas Hulut, said the G-20 meeting in Turkey in November will deliberate on the climate finance issue.

"If developed countries have to honour their commitment, then it is important to clarify the modalities. All these issues will be discussed at the G-20 meeting," he said.