From risk to resilience: climate vulnerability assessments in India
From risk to resilience: climate vulnerability assessments in India
Climate adaptation has been at the forefront of UN climate negotiations over the past decade, given the increasing frequency of extreme weather events at the global, national, and sub-national levels. Climate vulnerability and risk assessments (VRA) are essential for adaptation planning, as they help identify areas, populations, and systems that are most at-risk from the impacts of climate change. They can also be used as a tool to develop adaptation projects and mobilise multilateral finance. However, in India, there are hardly any development programs or projects that are being implemented based on climate VRA. Moreover, climate resilience is still struggling to find space in the sub-sections of investment proposals in India. This paper evaluates India's existing vulnerability and risk assessments, their varied scopes and methodologies, and offers recommendations informed by global best practices, that could be scaled up at national and sub-national levels.