CHENNAI: Chandra Bhushan, founder-CEO of International Forum for Environment, Sustainability and Technology (iFOREST), on Saturday called for a fundamental rethink of climate finance, arguing global capital is flowing “in exactly the opposite direction of where it is needed most.”
Delivering the keynote address titled ‘Inverse Logic of the Market - Reimagining Climate Finance’ at a talk organised by the Climate Change Media Hub at the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), he urged journalists to scrutinise the money trail behind climate action rather than focusing only on impacts such as heatwaves and extreme rain.
Bhushan said climate finance is broadly defined under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change as investments that either reduce greenhouse gas emissions or enhance adaptation. “But that is where the agreement ends,” he noted, pointing to deep disagreements over what counts as climate finance, including whether market-rate loans, development aid or private investments should qualify.
Highlighting the scale of the challenge, Bhushan said the world needs $6-9 trillion annually to stay on a 1.5 degree Celsius pathway. India alone requires about $180 billion per year in additional climate finance to meet its net-zero pathway.
Bhushan’s central argument was that markets prioritise short-term, certain returns rather than social or environmental outcomes. As a result, climate-vulnerable countries face the highest cost of capital.
To correct this “inverse logic,” he called for stronger climate mandates and standards, redefining corporate fiduciary duty to include environmental outcomes, and public interventions to reduce investment risks in adaptation sectors.