Finance Commission can save India’s cities

‘The story of cities and climate change is often narrated through the lens of a familiar set of hazards, from sea-ring heat to flooding rivers and choking smog. While they remain grievous concerns to be addressed, Indian cities today are undergoing a quieter but more concerning shift.

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New risks are emerging not as single events but as systemic dynamics, reshaping how cities grow, infrastructure holds together, and finance is mobilised. The next decade will not only be about defending against rising seas or installing air purifiers or cooling centres; it will be about managing the flows of people, systems, and capital that determine whether cities can adapt at scale.

One of the most profound of these shifts is migration. The World Bank’s Groundswell initiative in 2021 estimated that as many as 216 million people could be forced to move within their own countries by 2050 due to climate-related stressors. These flows are already beginning, as droughts reduce rural viability and coastal inundation drives families inland. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report recognises that urban areas will become magnets for climate migrants — not because they are safe, but because they promise services, employment, and the possibility of survival. Yet too many municipalities treat migration as a crisis at the margins, rather than a central feature of climate adaptation.

Without proactive planning, the new arrivals risk being absorbed into informal settlements located precisely in the zones most exposed to floods and landslides. It is important to note that what looks like migration pressure is, in fact, an opportunity: With foresight, urban growth spurred by mobility can build resilience, diversify economies, and reduce per-capita emissions.