BENGALURU: India officially takes over as chair of the Group of 20 leading economies on Thursday, and it has prioritised climate change among the group's top priorities.

Programs to encourage sustainable living and money for countries to transition to clean energy and deal with the effects of a warming world are some of the key areas that India will focus on during its presidency, experts say. Some say India will also use its new position to boost its climate credentials and act as a bridge between the interests of industrialized nations and developing ones.

The country has made considerable moves toward its climate goals in recent years but is currently one of the world’s top emitters of planet-warming gases.

The G-20 is made up of the world's largest economies and has a rolling presidency each year. Experts believe India will use the "big stage" of the presidency to drive forward its climate and development plans.

India will also push its flagship "Mission Life" program that encourages more sustainable lifestyles in the country, which is set to become the most populous in the world.

India has been beefing up its climate credentials, with its recent domestic targets to transition to renewable energy more ambitious than the goals it submitted to the U.N. as part of the Paris Agreement.

Analysts say nations' climate ambitions and actions — including India's — are not in line with temperature targets. Critics say the focus on lifestyle changes must be backed by policy to have credibility.

India is currently the world's third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Many of India's big industrialists are investing heavily in renewable energy domestically as well as globally. But the Indian government is also preparing to invest in coal-based power plants at the cost of $33 billion over the next four years.

Navroz Dubash, author of several U.N. climate reports and professor at the Centre for Policy Research,says emerging economies need to be able to address development needs and do it in a low carbon pathway.

As the chair of the G-20, India is in a good position "to say what it will take for us to develop in ways that don't lock up the remaining carbon budget".

Some experts say more than $2 trillion is needed each year by 2030 to help developing countries cut emissions and deal with the effects of a warming climate.

The G-20 will also be looking closely at alternative means to get climate finance, experts say. The group could potentially take a leaf out of the Bridgetown initiative proposed by Barbados. This involves unlocking large sums of money from multilateral development banks and international financial institutions to help countries adapt to climate change.

India's role as G-20 chair can help move forward the conversation on how to make it easier for developing countries to borrow money for renewable energy.

Developing countries are often charged higher rates of interest when borrowing from global financial institutions.

Rejigging global finance to make renewable energy more affordable in the developing world is key to curbing climate change, says ORF's Sarin.