Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav on Monday, 24 August presented India's diversified financing architecture for land restoration and drought resilience at the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Speaking at the Ministerial Dialogue on 'Innovative Financial Mechanisms for Healthy Land and Drought Resilience', Yadav called for international finance that is adequate, predictable and sustained — not merely aspirational.

India's Blended Finance Framework

According to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Yadav highlighted India's blended green-finance framework, which channels funding toward climate-change adaptation, sustainable land use, forestry, agriculture, afforestation and biodiversity conservation. He also pointed to Sovereign Green Bonds as a mechanism to mobilise capital for land restoration, drought resilience and sustainable forestry — positioning them as a replicable model for other developing economies.

Green Credit Programme and Compensatory Conservation

A centrepiece of India's presentation was the Green Credit Programme, which enables public and private entities to finance the restoration of degraded forest land. Credits are issued after five years of verified restoration and upon achieving at least 40 per cent canopy density; they may be used once for compensatory afforestation, statutory plantation or corporate social responsibility obligations.

Yadav also outlined India's compensatory conservation regime, under which payments received for forest diversion are channelled toward compensatory afforestation and ecosystem restoration. Corporate funding is integrated through existing environmental regulatory processes, ensuring institutional accountability rather than voluntary pledges.

Whole-of-Government Approach

Underscoring the importance of convergence, Yadav argued that aligning public and private finance — through instruments such as the Green Credit Programme and compensatory afforestation funds — on the same landscape and alongside citizen participation constitutes a genuine Whole-of-Government and Whole-of-Society approach.

'Finance must be continuous, verifiable and connected to local communities,' Yadav said, setting a clear benchmark for how innovative mechanisms should be evaluated.

India's Global Ask

While showcasing domestic achievements, Yadav was careful to draw a distinction between what committed national resources can deliver and what the global community must still provide. He stressed that India's experience cannot substitute for additional, adequate and predictable international finance for restoration and drought resilience — a pointed message to developed nations at a forum where finance gaps remain a persistent fault line.

Concluding his address, the minister reaffirmed India's willingness to share its institutional arrangements, safeguards and lessons learned — including areas requiring course correction. 'Ultimately, innovative finance should be judged not by its design or resources mobilised, but by whether it reaches the land, ecosystems and communities that need it most and delivers lasting restoration and resilience,' Yadav said.

What Comes Next

COP17 in Ulaanbaatar is expected to produce fresh commitments on the Land Degradation Neutrality target framework and drought policy. India's presentation positions the country as both a contributor of models and a claimant of international support — a dual stance that reflects the broader tension between ambition and finance at multilateral climate negotiations.