New Delhi : The two-day Climate and Energy Transition Finance Summit was concluded on Wednesday 29 November. Organized by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the G20 India secretariat in collaboration with Green Hydrogen Organization, the event saw a confluence of global leaders and industry stalwarts to chart a transformative path towards climate finance.
The event saw 200 participants contributing to the Delhi Message on Climate Finance, issued on the eve of the UN Climate Conference COP28, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to attend in Dubai. Issued by the Green Hydrogen Organisation and its partners in India, the Delhi Message offers a five-point plan for financing the green hydrogen economy.
Unprecedented amounts of capital is required to finance the transition away from fossil fuels. At the same time, there are huge opportunities to tap capital markets, with the right enabling financial solutions. On the eve of the Forum, Amitabh Kant, G20 sherpa sent the message that “The Climate and Energy Transition Finance Summit organised by the Green Hydrogen Organisation arrives at a pivotal moment in our global commitment to combat climate change”.
The Green Hydrogen Organisation, a global non-profit that is a leading voice advocating for the adoption of green hydrogen, announced ProClime, an upcoming climate action company as their carbon partner in India.
Deliberating on the contours of energy transition Jonas Moberg, CEO, Green Hydrogen Organization said ” It is truly impressive to hear from so many Indian companies about their enormous plans to become international leading producers of green hydrogen, green ammonia and other green fuels.The need for transitioning to green sources of energy has never been more urgent. With our partnership with ProClime, our vision to bring the power of the Carbon Markets to the GH2 space in India. We need substantial investments and innovative financial mechanisms to propel climate action forward. This makes collaboration vital, and that is what we were seeking to do.”
Talking about the partnership with Green Hydrogen Organization, Kavin Kumar Kandaswamy, CEO, ProClime said, “The Green Hydrogen Organisation and ProClime have joined forces to enhance the viability of carbon funding initiatives while pursuing the registration of the GH2 standard as a Voluntary Standard. Transitioning to hydrogen holds the key to slashing emissions globally. India stands at a pivotal crossroads, uniquely positioned to lead this transformative shift. This strategic collaboration aims to transcend borders, facilitating the global adoption of GH2 with increased certainty and assurance.”
“Industry should continue to work together like this and speak with one voice on what is needed for the green fuels economy to take off here in India.” said Tarun Kapoor, Special Advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the conclusion of the Forum.
“There is a growing understanding of how better functioning capital markets can bring in the financial resources needed to build our solar and wind parks and facilities to produce the green fuels our future requires” said Sanmit Ahuja, Senior Advisor, Green Hydrogen Organisation and chair of the Delhi Forum.
The Delhi Message on Climate Finance, issued by the Green Hydrogen Organisation & ProClime along with their partners in India, offers a five point plan for financing the green hydrogen economy.
There are huge opportunities to tap capital markets, with the right enabling financial solutions.
Delhi Message on Climate Finance 5 point plan:
Governments to establish market making facility for green hydrogen and derivatives. We urge governments to put in place clear demand targets and industry mandates to increase consumption of green hydrogen in hard-to-abate sectors, and to implement market aggregation mechanisms at domestic and global levels to send clear demand signals and facilitate domestic green hydrogen markets.
Establish risk register. More can be done to quantify and price risks with large renewable energy and green hydrogen projects. Capital will only be invested when risks are clearly identified and mitigated. For this reason, we urge hosting governments and the finance industry to work together in establishing national sectorial risk registers.
The cost of capital can be lowered through long-term financing. For this reason, we call on development finance institutions to provide long-term financing, 10 years or longer. We also hope that governments will do more to ensure that institutional investors can take on long-term liabilities within the framework of international finance regulations.
Guarantee structures and credit enhancement should be scaled up and improved. For this reason, we are encouraging government guarantee agencies, not least in developed countries, and guarantee providers such as the World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency to come up with new ways to provide guarantees. Many developing countries with great renewable energy potential have seen limited foreign direct investments to date, requiring new and elaborate risk mitigating measures.
Bond markets can be deepened. While green bonds and international bond markets are good at servicing developed countries, more efforts need to go into developing in particular the national bond markets in developing countries.
