India faces highest risk of climate change: IPCC

Funding from rich nations should not be only source of climate finance, it says

- NITIN KUMAR

Despite minimal contribution to global warming over the past century, India is among the countries that face the highest risk from climate change's impact, ranging from heat waves to cyclones and urban and rural displacement, the Indian scientists who were part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said on Monday.

Aditi Mukherjee of climate change impact platform, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), who chaired the adaptation working group of IPCC AR6; joint Nobel Peace Prize winner Joyashree Roy, energy economic programme, Asian Institute of Technology; and, Dipak Dasgupta of TERI were part of the session. The IPCC released its latest Synthesis Report for policymakers on Monday.

They added that India was attracting a lot of climate investment but must distribute those funds equally to adaptation and mitigation efforts. "Funding from rich nations should not be the only source of climate finance and India should look at a variety of funding options," they said.