By Badri Narayanan Gopalakrishnan and Nandakumar Janardhanan
As the world steps back from COP30 in Belém, the feeling is familiar: progress, yes, but not nearly enough. The summit delivered some long-awaited wins, like tripling the global adaptation finance target to USD 120 billion by 2035 and finally operationalising carbon markets under Article 6. Yet, it fell short on the one issue everyone was watching, an agreed pathway to phase out fossil fuels.
This stalemate sends a loud and uncomfortable message: we can no longer depend on slow, consensus-based global negotiations to rescue the planet. The future of climate action will be written by coalitions that can move faster, countries that don’t wait for unanimity but act because it is urgent and necessary.
In this emerging landscape, the growing climate partnership between India and Japan stands out. It is not just a bilateral collaboration; it is an example of how the Global North and South can work together with purpose and pragmatism in a post-COP30 world.
A ‘Mutirão’ for the 21st Century
The Brazilian presidency called on the world to embrace a ‘Global Mutirão’, a collective effort for the common good. While the world debated what that meant, India and Japan had already begun building their own version of it.
One of the most important, though surprisingly under-reported, developments of 2025 was the operationalisation of the India–Japan Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM). With COP30 clarifying Article 6 rules, this mechanism is poised to become a major tool for decarbonisation.
The idea is elegant and mutually beneficial. For Japan it brings investment and frontier technologies through its ambitious Green Transformation (GX) strategy. As India applies these technologies across its vast renewable and industrial ecosystems, both countries can earn carbon credits to meet its own net-zero goals.
For India this is more than climate finance. It is a gateway to the transformative technologies needed for ‘hard-to-abate’ sectors: green hydrogen, carbon capture, smart grids. Japanese precision meets Indian scale, and that combination can be game-changing.
Biofuels: The Belém 4X Pledge Comes to Life
Amid the frustrations of COP30, the ‘Belém 4X Pledge’ was a bright spot, a commitment to quadruple sustainable biofuel production by 2035. India and Japan, along with Brazil and Italy, were founding signatories.
The alignment here is natural. India has abundant biomass and a strong domestic biofuel agenda through the Global Biofuels Alliance, while Japan has the enzymatic technologies and refining capacity to turn agricultural waste into advanced ethanol and sustainable aviation fuel.
This is a partnership that solves two problems at once: it reduces stubble burning and rural pollution in India, while helping Japan green its aviation sector. It is climate action that improves livelihoods and supports economic resilience on both sides.
Adaptation: The Crisis Hiding in Plain Sight
One of the clearest messages from COP30 was that mitigation alone will not save us. Adaptation is not a future concern; it is the present emergency.
Tripling adaptation finance is a major step, but funding without a plan rarely delivers results. This is where India–Japan cooperation can truly shine.
Japan has decades of experience in disaster risk reduction, typhoon management, flood engineering, early warning systems, and resilient urban design. For India, grappling with more frequent heatwaves, unpredictable monsoons, and glacial lake outburst floods, Japanese knowledge is not merely useful; it is essential.
The next phase of collaboration should move from power plants to resilience systems. Japan’s ODA helped build metro rail network in India; the coming decade could see it helping to shape ‘sponge cities’ and climate-resilient infrastructure.
A Partnership the World Can Learn From
Belém exposed once again the fissures between the Global North and South, divisions on finance, responsibility, and timelines. But the India–Japan partnership shows that cooperation does not have to be constrained by these fault lines.
This relationship is built on complementarity of Japanese capital and technology, and Indian scale, markets, and innovation.
As the world turns its eyes toward COP31 in Turkey, the demand is clear: less talk, more examples. More working models that cut emissions while supporting growth.
If India and Japan deliver on the frameworks they set in 2025, from the JCM to the biofuels alliance, they won’t just meet their own climate targets. They will offer the world a blueprint for how cross-regional cooperation can actually work: practical, ambitious, and grounded in mutual benefit.
Dr Badri Narayanan Gopalakrishnan is Fellow, NITI Aayog and Dr Nandakumar Janardhanan is Deputy Director IGES, Japan.
Disclaimer: The views expressed are the author’s own and do not reflect the official policy or position of Financial Express.