London, UK – N.K. Singh, President of the Institute of Economic Growth, declared at London Climate Action Week that “development and climate action are no longer separate. They are the same story.” Singh emphasized a critical shift in the global climate conversation: moving beyond ambitious targets and promises to the more challenging task of mobilizing finance and ensuring tangible delivery of green initiatives.
Addressing a high-level discussion on “Scaling the Green Transition,” Singh highlighted the urgent need for emerging economies, including India, to access affordable capital at scale. He criticized the “prejudices and predilections” of international institutions that he believes artificially inflate borrowing costs for developing nations, hindering investment in clean energy and resilient infrastructure.
Mobilizing Trillions for Green Transition Finance
The event centered on a proposed global climate finance agenda aiming to mobilize an ambitious $1.3 trillion to support the worldwide green transition and vital climate action. The discussion, part of the official London Climate Action Week 2026 program, reflected a growing consensus that future climate action will be judged by implementation rather than new pledges.
Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, President of COP30, echoed this sentiment, stating that the climate process must transition from negotiation to implementation. He stressed that delivering the proposed $1.3 trillion agenda requires robust coalitions capable of transforming political commitments into practical investments, with India poised to play a central role.
Climate Action as Economic Opportunity
Lord Nicholas Stern, Chair of the Grantham Research Institute at LSE, framed the green transition as “the growth and development story of the twenty-first century.” He argued that climate action should be viewed not merely as a cost, but as a significant economic opportunity capable of driving productivity, fostering resilience, and stimulating innovation.
Masood Ahmed, President Emeritus of the Centre for Global Development, noted a dramatic shift in attitudes over the past decade. Developing countries, once concerned about climate finance constraining growth, now actively seek renewable energy investments, recognizing them as the cheapest energy source. Ahmed called for development banks to prioritize originating projects that attract private investors and focus less on protecting their own balance sheets.
Rachel Kyte, the UK's Special Representative for Climate, maintained an optimistic outlook despite current geopolitical instability. She highlighted vast potential for expanding carbon markets and unlocking private finance, suggesting that enhanced transparency, data, and AI-driven analytics could create innovative financing models. Kyte also stressed the importance of greater participation from pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and other long-term investors in financing the green transition, particularly in emerging markets.
Building Coalitions of the Willing
When questioned about countries' commitment to climate goals amid global conflicts and the US's stance on parts of the climate framework, Singh remained optimistic. He asserted that the “exit of the world's largest emitter from the Paris Agreement and the UNFCCC does not diminish the urgent compulsions driving the coalitions of the willing.”
Singh concluded that the future of climate action would increasingly rely on flexible partnerships among countries, rather than waiting for universal consensus. He noted that many multilateral development banks are not constrained by US shareholding, enabling them to make decisions that shape the future of development and climate finance. These “green coalitions,” he suggested, can continue to drive progress even in a fragmented geopolitical landscape, underscoring that the debate is no longer about necessity, but about the financial architecture's capacity to deliver.