From road to rail: Unpacking India's transport strategy to meet national climate commitment

Climate finance is becoming an increasingly important topic, especially as we see more gaps in Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitments and rising surface temperatures. Countries outline their climate goals by labelling targets as either unconditional, achievable with their own resources, or conditional, relying on international support for finance, technology, or capacity building.

How a country classifies its strategies really shows its financial situation and how capable it is of gathering the resources necessary to reach its climate goals.According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the main focus of NDCs is on reducing emissions in energy supply, with significant attention also given to agriculture, forestry, land use (AFOLU), and transport. While most mitigation goals are set to be achieved independently, many are also dependent on external support, especially in the sectors of energy, transport, and buildings.

Interestingly, about half of the countries have highlighted the need for external financial assistance, especially for renewables, energy efficiency, and low-carbon transport. This shows a growing trend where low-income countries and small island nations increasingly look to international support for funding, technology, and capacity building.Although we've made good progress since 2013 in lowering energy use and carbon emissions, our activity levels are still growing faster than these improvements.

More electricity use, more air travel, the popularity of road freight, high reliance on two-wheelers, and the rise of larger, heavier cars (almost half of all cars sold) have all contributed to increased emissions. This highlights how urgently we need a strong,