Protecting India's growth ambitions in a changing climate will require adaptation to become a strategic priority across sectors.
At the #CIIClimateActionSummit 2026, the session, "The Climate Adaptation Imperative: Protecting India's USD 5 Trillion Ambition", explored the role of adaptation in safeguarding growth, strengthening value chains, enabling risk-informed decision-making, and building resilience across sectors.
The session was moderated by Ms. Deeksha Vats, Group Chief Sustainability Officer, Aditya Birla Group.
Other delegates who were part of the panel were Mr. K V Santhosh Ragavan, Head- Environmental Services, IIHS; Mr. George M Menezes, Advisor-Sustainability, Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd.; Mr. Ankit Todi, Group Chief Sustainability Officer, Mahindra Group; Mr Himal Tewari,CHRO and Chief Sustainability and CSR, Tata Power; Dr. Deepak Kumar, Head - ESG cell, Union Bank of India; and Dr. Mona Chhabra Anand, Head of the Resilience Building and Localization (RBL) Unit, Asian Disaster Preparedness Center.
Key Takeaways:
• Adaptation must shift from compliance to core business strategy.
Industry responses to climate risk remain largely reactive. Building the business case for adaptation, quantifying operational disruptions and embedding cross-functional governance are critical steps toward making resilience proactive and scalable.
• Heat stress and agricultural disruption are India's two most urgent adaptation challenges.
Extreme heat is already cutting worker productivity in outdoor and industrial settings. Shifting rainfall, soil degradation and rising temperatures are simultaneously threatening crop yields, and India is not adequately prepared for either.
• Climate risk is entering banking and credit appraisal frameworks.
Banks are integrating physical and transition climate risks into loan appraisal and default assessments. RBI's forthcoming CRIS system will standardise climate risk integration across the sector, making it more consistent and actionable.
• Adaptation finance to the Global South remains disproportionately low.
Despite the Global South bearing a disproportionately higher impact of climate change, the adaptation finance flowing in remains far from proportional to the scale of need.
#CIIClimateActionSummit #ClimateAction #ClimateAdaptation #Resilience #BusinessReadiness #Sustainability
@FollowCII@seematweet@CEEWIndia@CIIEvents@moefcc@CII4WR@randomguy2100@monacanand@AdityaBirlaGrp@UnionBankTweets@GodrejEntGroup@iihsin@monacanand@ADPCnet@TataPower@FollowCII@seematweet@CEEWIndia@CIIEvents@moefcc@CII4WR
@hvgoenka Sir, income tax (for white collar jobs) at high rate is honestly the biggest barrier for economic growth in the country - of that is rationalised, it will drive spend and more talent in the white collar ecosystem to drive growth!
@anandmahindra Absolutely. Heat stress risk is the most severe climate issue for India backed my ample days evidence, but the solutions lie in empathy!
@MPNaveenJindal@FollowCII@ASSOCHAM4India@ficci_india@phdchamber@ICC_Chamber Completely agree with you that the people directly responsible with oversight should be held accountable. And not based on what brings most media attention. We as a country need to take industrial safety more seriously across the board and be willing to pay for it!
@anandmahindra@anandmahindra the work being done by @supriyasahuias across the board on environment friendly measures in Tamil Nadu is commendable - very soon it will be called the 'green state' of India!
@amitabhk87 Agree with you view, however there is still merit in participating and engaging. It's ultimately the only forum to really discuss this global issue - India can take a leadership role to showcase our balance of growth with enviornment consideration.
@Aunindyo2023 On point! The corporate ecosystem dependent on 'upper middle class' consumption - e commerce, food delivery, FMCG, auto, etc. need to understand and advocate for lower taxation to bring back growth. Nothing left after tax, rent, education and healthcare for discretionary purchase
@Nithin0dha Please invest in startups making clean food affordable and policy think tanks to push for stricter implementation of food laws. That is one of the most effective ways forward...
@chiragchhajer@burmaburmaindia I recent visited burma burma in aerocity - this was after a really long time, and that's when I learnt this was not a pe/vc or large group owned restaurant and coincidentally I see your post now. Definitely coming more often now! 🎉🎉
@raghav_chadha Reduce income tax before ltcg and STCG. We are overtaxing the few hard working salaried people, most of whom live in cities with extremely high cost of living, plus account for inflation.