India’s climate adaptation strategy faces structural obstacles, necessitating a better understanding of investment needs and funding gaps

A new report by The Center for Sustainable Finance at The Climate Policy Initiative  (CPI) India assesses funding gaps and adaptation investment needs in Indian states. 

The report titled: Financing Adaptation in India, observes that the climate change challenges are hindering the country’s progress toward sustainable development goals. Over 50 million people may fall below the poverty line by 2040 due to adverse effects on agriculture and livelihood sectors.

The report highlights the need for increased investments to mitigate climate change’s negative effects. It offers insights on mobilizing finance from public, private, and blended sources, urging policymakers and stakeholders to increase adaptation investments.

India’s climate adaptation strategy faces structural obstacles, necessitating a better understanding of investment needs, funding gaps, a unified framework for assessing risk, and a distinction between adaptation and development, the authors state. 

Malini Chakravarty, Lead author of the report, says, “Not taking adequate and timely adaptive action carries a massive cost for India. Hence exploring innovative financing solutions is crucial. By adopting a multi-pronged approach that includes the Finance Commission shaping its tax devolution principles to direct resources to the most climate-vulnerable states and districts, India can increase its adaptation efforts, critical for sustainable and climate-resilient future of the country.”

Dr Dhruba Purkayastha, India Director, Climate Policy Initiative India, states, “India needs to prioritize policy and institutional action of adaptation with a focus on vulnerable states by developing programs for implementing adaptation, followed by building resilience actions. Bridging investment gaps requires mainstreaming adaptation investments through budget allocations and leveraging public finance to attract commercial investments. Assessing adaptation investment needs at both national and subnational levels is the first step to enabling informed policy and financing decisions.”