If climate is the test, adaptation must be the answer

This article is authored by Angela Lusigi, resident representative, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India.

A single heatwave can push a family into debt. One flood can erase years of progress. Climate shocks strip development down to its essentials, revealing which systems hold and which fail. If COP30 made one lesson clear, it is this: adaptation is now the frontline of development, not an afterthought to mitigation.

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India enters this moment with both urgency and credibility. Its net-zero pathway, its push for climate justice for the Global South and its domestic investments in resilient infrastructure signal a country willing to lead. But the climate era demands something sharper: embedding resilience into every public service people rely on — health, power, transport, housing, and safety nets. And most importantly, protecting the most marginalised, who remain most climate vulnerable.

UNDP’s Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2025 shows why 1.1 billion people live in acute multidimensional poverty, and eight in ten face major climate hazards. In South Asia alone, 351 million people live where poverty and climate risk collide. These are not distant figures. They represent households that cannot absorb even one more shock.

The picture becomes starker up close. The Himachal Pradesh Human Development Report 2025 shows how districts strong on income, health and education lose ground once climate risks are factored in. Solan, a top performer on traditional indicators, drops sharply once exposure to hazards is added. Small farmers, women, tribal communities and informal workers carry the greatest burden - and the least buffer.

Safeguarding these communities, their livelihoods, safety nets, and aspirations must be central to climate action. Equally important is the resilience of the systems they rely on.

Disruptions to essential services cause far more harm than the physical damage alone. A washed-out road is expensive, but a community cut off from hospitals, schools, or markets is exponentially more devastating.

Yet across India, adaptation is already taking shape, not as a siloed activity, but woven into national programmes, state plans, and local governance.

Over the past decade, India has integrated climate adaptation into national missions, State Action Plans on Climate Change (SAPCCs), and sectoral policies. All 34 states and Union Territories now report SAPCCs aligned with national priorities, ensuring climate risk is addressed in agriculture, water, health, urban development, and disaster response. Guided by its updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the LiFE initiative, the National Action Plan on Climate Change, and the long-term low-emissions development strategy (LT-LEDS), India aims to balance development, climate mitigation, and resilience. Alongside these, sectoral efforts, from climate-resilient agriculture to improved seed systems, show how policy, finance, and community resilience can come together to safeguard both people and progress.

UNDP is working closely with the Government of India to strengthen these efforts, including support to the forthcoming National Adaptation Plan. On the ground, people-centered models are already showing results. Project Utthaan, a multi-stakeholder partnership with government, private sector, civil society, and communities, has connected over 27,000 Safai Mitras across 30 cities to health insurance, pensions, skills training, and community networks. Along the coastline, the Enhancing Climate Resilience of India’s Coastal Communities (ECRICC) initiative in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Odisha is restoring mangroves, protecting ecosystems, and supporting climate-resilient livelihoods. These initiatives work because they give people security, information, and confidence to plan ahead.

With the right partnerships and resources, these solutions can be scaled across India and beyond. Each strengthened community network, resilient school, hospital, or bridge represents a step toward safeguarding the progress that people have worked so hard to achieve.

The decisions at COP30 reinforce this focus on adaptation. The adoption of 59 global indicators to track adaptation progress, from finance and technology transfer to gender-responsive planning and local capacity, creates a foundation for measurable action. The next two years of mandated work to refine these indicators, along with preparations for COP31 under the Baku Adaptation Roadmap led by Australia and Türkiye, will shape how countries take forward a coherent global approach to adaptation. The adoption of the NAP assessment decision further recognises the progress developing countries have made, while highlighting their ongoing challenges in accessing resources and climate information. Importantly, it reinforces the value of indigenous and traditional knowledge, gender-responsive approaches, and nature-based solutions.

The moment is now. By combining social protection, local action, and resilient infrastructure, India can show the world what practical, people-centered adaptation looks like - safeguarding lives, livelihoods, and development gains today and in the climate of tomorrow.

This article is authored by Angela Lusigi, resident representative, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India.