By Abbas Nazil
India is grappling with escalating climate disasters even as it calls for COP30 to prioritise climate adaptation, raising concerns over the country’s own funding shortfalls.
In September, relentless rains triggered a landslide in Sarh village, Indian-administered Kashmir, sweeping away Shabir Ahmad’s home and nearly 20 others, leaving dozens of families homeless and their properties destroyed.
The tragedy in Sarh highlights the growing frequency of climate-induced disasters across India, which have displaced millions in recent years.
According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, over 32 million people were forced from their homes in India between 2015 and 2024 due to climate-related events, with 5.4 million displacements recorded in 2024 alone.
Despite launching the National Adaptation Fund on Climate Change (NAFCC) in 2015 to help communities cope with floods, landslides, and other climate stresses, India has allocated zero funds to the scheme since the 2023-2024 financial year.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, which manages NAFCC, moved the fund from a “scheme” to a “non-scheme,” providing no clear budget, stalling projects in flood-, cyclone-, and landslide-prone areas.
At COP30, India’s Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav emphasised the need for global adaptation financing, describing adaptation as urgent for billions of vulnerable people in developing countries.
Critics argue that domestic actions contradict these commitments, leaving communities exposed to repeated displacement and destruction of homes, livelihoods, and farmland.
Environmental activists warn that neglecting climate adaptation funding signals a moral failure, creating conditions for large-scale internal climate migration in the coming decades.
From the Sundarbans to Himachal Pradesh, rising seas, floods, cloudbursts, and landslides have devastated homes and farmland, forcing people to seek temporary shelter or migrate for survival.
Without sufficient government support, climate adaptation remains inadequate, exposing millions to recurring crises and marking India as one of the nations most vulnerable to climate displacement.
