INDIA AT COP30: WHY NEW DELHI WANTS THE SUMMIT TO BE ABOUT ADAPTATION

Economic Survey says India self-finances climate action; adaptation rose to 5.6% of GDP. Global finance is scant—$300bn vs $5.1-6.8tn. Rich nations lag; COP30 must rebalance.

- RUCHIRA TALAPATRA

When Brazil's rainforest city of Belém opens its doors to the world for COP30 this November, the stakes will be high. A decade after the Paris Agreement, there is a palpable sense of restlessness: multilateral climate talks are losing the trust of the most vulnerable, finance is drying up, and both mitigation pledges and adaptation promises are lagging. In New Delhi, the political and civil-society conversations ahead of the summit reflect this unease. “COP30 should be the COP of adaptation,” Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav told his counterparts in Brasília. It is not merely a slogan. India wants this COP to move climate diplomacy from rhetoric to resilient infrastructure, from spreadsheets to flood-walls and drought-proof crops.

This article explores India’s position going into COP30, drawing from official statements, think-tank analysis, and civil-society briefings. It also looks at the wider context of the talks, from the failure of COP29’s finance goal to the emerging activism around just transitions and indigenous rights. Together, these elements illustrate why New Delhi is pushing adaptation, equity and actionable finance to the top of the COP agenda.

A FRAYING CLIMATE REGIME