Speaking at the fourth session of ‘COP21 Dialogue’ that dealt with the issue of ‘how long-term and sustained financing be restructured for mitigation and adaptation?’ here, the experts maintained priorities of different countries are essential in dealing with climate change.

The session was held at the Embassy of France here in the run up to the UN Climate Change Conference to be held in Paris in December this year.

“We are at an important stage. We need 100 billion dollars a year to fund climate change activities by 2020. Are we going to get the 100 billion dollars? I don’t know. I think it will need a combined good sense (to achieve that).

“The biggest challenge is adaptation, because of the size and scale and frequency of the disasters happening,” said Dipak Dasgupta, alternate member of board, Green Climate Fund (GCF).

Addressing the gathering, Dasgupta said members of GCF, an operating entity of the financial mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, are looking at a “very strong” community-oriented activity to deal with the climate change issues.

There is also need to have institutions that can directly run programme, he said.

Rajasree Ray, additional economic advisor to the Union Finance Ministry, said India would like to see what commitments and actions different parties will have to tackle climate change at the Paris meet.

She said that given the energy requirement and available resources in India, cleaner coal technology suited the country.

K S Popli, CMD of Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (TBC), said that funding for renewable energy will happen if the target of producing such power is bigger, which was not the case earlier.

“Now, there is more confidence that the capacity (to produce renewable energy) can be enhanced. The target is bigger, so the financing will happen. People (in India) have started believing yes, it can happen,” Popli said, adding that the government has already taken up construction of green energy corridor.

Namita Vikas, senior president and chief sustainability officer at Yes Bank, said “there is little doubt” that finance will play its role in encouraging green energy.

She also insisted that designs of the yet-to-be-built buildings in smart cities planned in the country must have green designs “from start”.

Ambassador of France to India Francois Richier inaugurated the session, while Dr Jyoti Parikh, executive director of Integrated Research and Action for Development (IRADe), moderated the discussion.

The 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the UNFCCC will take place in Paris in December this year.