Daijiworld Media Network - Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro, Jul 5: India is uniquely positioned to spearhead a global transformation in sustainable development, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at the ‘Governors Seminar’ in Brazil. Speaking on the theme ‘Challenges for Financing Sustainable Development for the Global South’, she emphasised that the task ahead goes beyond raising capital—it's about instilling fairness, building trust, and providing leadership.

Sitharaman said that India’s development priorities—housing, healthcare, education, and livelihoods—must go hand-in-hand with addressing climate challenges like heatwaves, water scarcity, and extreme weather. She noted that India is advancing integrated solutions through programs such as the National Electric Mobility Mission and province-level climate action plans.

She asserted that the true challenge lies not in choosing between development and sustainability but in creating inclusive policies that promote both. Highlighting the growing financial need, she said the annual gap for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in developing nations has surged to over $4.2 trillion post-pandemic, further widening the divide between ambition and reality.

India, she stressed, stands at a “unique crossroads,” where the aspirations of over a billion people align with the urgency of climate action. The country has already shown how large-scale implementation can be achieved with speed, through policies like UPI, Aadhaar, and Jan Dhan, which have advanced financial inclusion to the grassroots.

She also pointed to policy frameworks like the Gati Shakti National Master Plan, the National Green Hydrogen Mission, and India’s renewable energy capacity surpassing 220 GW as examples of efforts to drive the green transition while maintaining macroeconomic stability.

India is also leading in green finance, having issued sovereign green bonds, mandated ESG disclosures, and proposed a taxonomy for climate finance. Sitharaman concluded by reaffirming India’s commitment to building an inclusive, resilient, and innovation-driven financial system that connects capital with both climate and development goals.