India to submit climate adaptation framework to UNFCCC by September

Though India has its National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), the country for the first time is drafting it in compliance with the Paris Agreement

India National Adaptation Plan, India climate change, UNFCCC climate commitments, NAP India, Paris Agreement, climate policy, biodiversity — There have been consultations between the MoEFCC and line ministries and a few are expected before those ministries submit their sectoral framework to the MoEFCC by July, an official said

Puja Das New Delhi

4 min read Last Updated : Apr 23 2025 | 11:29 PM IST

India will have an enhanced and more holistic plan of combating climate change, going down to economic and social structures to broaden its scope.

Termed the National Adaptation Plan (NAP), which will be submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by September, this marks the country’s first such framework in line with its global commitments.

Though India has its National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), the country for the first time is drafting it in compliance with the Paris Agreement.

India’s NAPCC, which has been submitted to the UNFCCC, focuses in a major way on mitigation — reducing greenhouse gas emission. Being spearheaded by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), the draft on the new plan focuses on nine thematic areas — agriculture, water resources, health, gender issues, poverty, traditional knowledge, finance, resilient infrastructure, and biodiversity & forestry.

There have been consultations between the MoEFCC and line ministries and a few are expected before those ministries submit their sectoral framework to the MoEFCC by July, an official said.

The NAP also aims at facilitating the integration of climate-change adaptation with relevant upcoming and existing policies, programmes, development planning processes, and strategies.

This is significant because the global average temperature has already touched 1.6 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Germanwatch, in its report in February, said extreme weather events claimed at least 80,000 lives in India and caused an economic loss of $180 billion between 1993 and 2022.

Queries sent to the spokesperson and secretary to the MoEFCC remained unanswered till the time of going to press.

“UNFCCC countries that are preparing NAPs voluntarily have been asked to submit those by September. By September, we will submit NAP 1.0 to the UNFCCC. NAP 2.0 will come after five years along with the NDC (nationally determined contribution) cycle and it will be refined based on the next assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the outcomes of COP30 (30th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC), which is being termed the ‘adaptation COP’,” the official said.

India’s next round of NDC, which will be submitted to the UNFCCC before COP30, will likely draw on the NAP.

On implementation, the official said: “Adaptation being a locally sensitive issue, the implementation plan will be anchored by state governments and local governing bodies, depending on their regional adaptation requirements amid climate vagaries. Those plans will be implemented with the help of the private sector.”

The latest Economic Survey has highlighted the significance of adaptation measures to tackle global warming and consequent climate change in the country, pointing out the need for a region-specific adaptation strategy. Domestic expenditure on adaptation rose from 3.7 per cent of gross domestic product in FY16 to 5.6 per cent in FY22. However, it remains inadequate.

According to a Climate Policy Initiative report, India needs substantial climate finance for adaptation, estimated at over $1 trillion, between 2015 and 2030, particularly in sectors like agriculture, water resources, and disaster management.

The Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) was proposed in the Paris Agreement (2015) under Article 7 to enhance adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience, and reduce vulnerability to climate change. In 2021, the Glasgow COP initiated a work programme to operationalise the GGA, which ran for two years, leading to the adoption of the UAE (United Arab Emirates) Framework on Global Climate Resilience by CMA5 (Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement 5) and a two-year UAE-Belém work programme on indicators was launched.

At present, 142 developing UNFCCC member countries are undertaking measures to formulate and implement NAPs. To date, 64 countries, including 60 developing nations, have submitted their NAPs.