Why India’s success in financial DPI should be replicated in climate action

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Climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts can benefit immensely from robust intervention. The Gross Domestic Climate Change Risks 2023 report, published by the Cross Dependency Initiative, an organisation that focuses on climate risk analyses, has found that nine Indian states rank among the world’s top 50 at-risk states and provinces. Despite the pace and scale of the crisis, India has been slow to respond.

The UNEP Emissions Gap Report 2022 projects that global carbon emissions must be reduced by 45% to meet the 1.5°C targets in 2030, while global investments in mitigation activities were nearly 65-80% below required projections as of 2019. It is valuable to note that climate issues are not divided by geographical boundaries, and solutions must be developed collectively. India’s learnings in building common digital infrastructure can pass through to our fight against climate change.

DPI can play a foundational role by facilitating data sharing and accessibility across borders and coordinating mitigation efforts. This matters even more in low-and-middle-income countries, where the capacity for investment is comparatively lower. DPI can boost efficiency and outcomes in carbon trading markets, deforestation prevention, and weather information systems.

While carbon trading has gained considerable traction, the carbon credit market is held back by poorly-designed offsets and asymmetry of information. Siloed and opaque carbon markets can lead to limited verification of offsets, resulting in a net increase in emissions. A digital carbon credit platform can introduce a common standard for monitoring, reporting and verification of emissions, in turn improving access to and transparency within the carbon market.