SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Financing sustainability is at the heart of international climate politics. Post signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015, the global South has laid out clear requirements for financial flows from the global North to address the climate crisis. There is a growing consensus that climate change and high carbon emissions are directly impacting human health. Transitioning to renewable energy in the country's energy mix is unanimously agreed as the most prudent mitigation strategy. Developing the new energy sources by developing distributed energy grids, also presents an opportunity to create more renewable energy stakeholders encompassing various income groups and sectors and promote inclusive green growth. The Paris Agreement mandates the countries of the Global North to transfer funds required for mitigation and adaptation in the Global South. However, the data indicates that recipients of climate finance and developers of new energy systems are predominantly large private corporations. The existing policies to finance small, distributed energy grids in the rural sector suffer majorly from financing gaps. This chapter adopts a case study approach to examine the case of social equity in financing renewable energy development in one of the states of India with the highest renewable energy potential. The finding indicates that the policies to finance the mini-distributed energy grids in rural India are bankable and safe assets that can lead to inclusive socio-economic growth and positively affect human health. This study also highlights the underlying gaps in financing that have resulted in the failure of the policy, thereby raising the issue of equity and inclusion in developing green energy systems. This study adds to the missing literature on social equity in developing green energy systems. It advocates amendment to an existing policy framework that can ensure domestic and international climate finance flows trickle down domestically in a just and fair manner.