Meeting Climate Challenges: Urgent Call for Adaptation Funding

Rapid Summary

• Climate change poses acute and chronic risks globally, including India. Acute risks are sudden events like floods and cyclones, while chronic risks involve long-term changes in temperature, rainfall patterns, and sea levels. Both types threaten lives, livelihoods, communities, and businesses.
• Adaptation strategies aim to reduce vulnerability or exposure to such risks. examples include rainwater harvesting under India’s PM Awas Yojana for water scarcity and mangrove reforestation in the Sundarbans to combat flooding impacts from cyclones.
• Adaptation financing involves allocating resources for resilience-building against climate impacts – investments include infrastructure upgrades, ecosystem restoration, technology growth, and community initiatives.
• India faces meaningful adaptation funding challenges: projected needs of ₹57 trillion by 2030 versus ₹13.35 trillion allocated in FY22; only 4% of global climate finance is earmarked for adaptation while most financing comes from public sources like state budgets or multilateral banks with gaps ranging from ₹194 billion to ₹366 billion annually.
• Barriers include weak business cases for projects in emerging economies due to a lack of financial delivery mechanisms or affordable insurance options that escalate costs into credit risks.
• Solutions proposed include greater commitments from developed nations for funding support; affordable insurance schemes against climate risk; foundational finance networks offering guarantees alongside stronger local capital markets to attract private investment.

Indian Opinion Analysis
India’s rising financial needs underscore the urgency of addressing climate adaptation gaps at scale as both acute disasters (e.g., floods) become frequent & legacy-preexisting poorly designed Current-chronic-risks One