Constructive climate-adaptation policy must bring in pvt sector through entrepreneurial role: Official

New Delhi, Oct 8 (PTI) A constructive climate-adaptation policy will need to ensure that the private sector comes into play through an entrepreneurial role, which has been lacking in most cases, a senior environment ministry official has said.

Speaking at a High-Level Roundtable on Adaptation Finance organised by Climate Trends, Abhishek Acharya, Director at the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), said the lack of entrepreneurial participation in adaptation projects has been one of the key gaps in climate policy.

"Adaptation is not profit-exclusive," Acharya said. "We need to develop a market system where entrepreneurial incentives and private sector initiatives are encouraged. The myth about no profit incentive in adaptation can be busted with simple examples like resilient infrastructure, which clearly offers market opportunities," he added.

"A constructive adaptation policy will need to ensure that the private sector comes into play through an entrepreneurial role, which has been lacking in most of the cases," Acharya said.

He emphasised that climate adaptation should not be viewed purely as a public good, arguing that marketable frameworks can be created to attract investment and innovation. "If we think we can, we can," he said, suggesting that blending public and private finance could help local governments mobilise funds for resilience measures.

Acharya also pointed to the need for empowering the third tier of governance -- municipalities, panchayats and city corporations -- to raise money through innovative instruments for local adaptation actions.

"The last-mile action has to be from local governments and unless they have financial strengthening through market opportunities, the requirement will not be met to the fullest extent," he said.

At the same discussion, Ashish Chaturvedi, Head of Action for Climate and Environment at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), underlined the challenge of accessing and deploying global climate funds.

"Even if USD 5 billion is theoretically available for India, the real question is how much of it will trickle in, and at what pace," he said, referring to high transaction costs and rigid modalities in funds like the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Global Environment Facility (GEF).

He noted that India already spends heavily on climate adaptation, rising from 3.7 per cent of the GDP in 2015-16 to 5.6 per cent by 2021-22, and called for reforming global funding systems to make those more flexible. "For every dollar of GEF money India gets, it spends seven dollars in co-financing. The rules of the GEF still apply, that is where the problem lies," Chaturvedi said.

Kathryn Milliken, Senior Climate Change Specialist at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), said India's upcoming National Adaptation Plan, expected later this year, will provide the first comprehensive framework to prioritise adaptation investments. "This could mark a structural shift from fragmented adaptation efforts towards a systematic financial architecture," she said.

The ADB, she noted, has committed that 50 per cent of all its financing will go toward climate action by 2030, with 30 per cent earmarked for adaptation.

Other experts at the roundtable called for aligning adaptation planning with long-term development goals and political accountability.

Amir Bazaz of the Indian Institute for Human Settlements said India lacks a long-term, risk-informed vision for adaptation. "Much of what we do ensures that we do not slip below the baseline, but not enough to build future resilience," he said, adding that adaptation remains "a local issue, without sufficient local capacity or financing".

Ovais Sarmad, Vice-Chair of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and a former senior UN official, urged India to take a strong stance at global forums like the upcoming COP in Belem, Brazil. "It is time for India to double down and highlight climate justice," he said, stressing that adaptation must remain "people-centred and clearly articulated".

Manjeev S Puri, former IFS officer and Distinguished Fellow at TERI, echoed that sentiment, saying India and other developing countries need to raise the political and public profile of adaptation. "We need to speak up on adaptation much more, locally and globally.... Link it to resilience and you will find political buy-in and, in time, economic buy-in will follow," he said. PTI UZM RC