Climate Resilience at the G7: India’s Role in a Warming World

The Group of Seven (G7) has undergone a remarkable transformation since its inception. Once focused primarily on economic coordination among industrialised democracies, the G7 has become a central forum for addressing the most urgent planetary challenges. In 2025, as climate impacts intensify globally, the G7 has placed climate resilience at the heart of its agenda, not just as an environmental concern but as a core issue of global security, development, and economic stability.

1. The Climate Crisis as a Resilience Crisis

Historically, global climate diplomacy has been dominated by mitigation efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. While this remains crucial, the growing severity and frequency of climate disasters have made it clear that mitigation alone is insufficient. Adaptation and resilience are now seen as equal pillars in securing the future.

The 51st G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Canada, marked a turning point. The summit’s outcomes included the adoption of a Wildfire Charter, greater alignment on infrastructure resilience, renewed support for National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), and a strong push to mobilise private capital for resilience investments. Notably, India—although not a G7 member—played a central role in shaping these priorities, signalling a deeper collaboration between advanced economies and the Global South.

2. The Evolution of Resilience on the G7 Agenda

Over the past five years, climate resilience has steadily moved from the margins to the centre of G7 discussions.

• 2021 (Cornwall): The G7 recognised the growing gap in adaptation finance and the disproportionate impact of climate change on vulnerable countries.
• 2022 (Schloss Elmau): The Climate Club was launched, focusing on decarbonization but leaving adaptation relatively underexplored.
• 2023 (Hiroshima): The first in-depth dialogues on resilience investments in food and energy systems were held.
• 2024 (Apulia): G7 countries committed to “resilience swaps,” early warning systems, and localised adaptation in low-income nations.
• 2025 (Kananaskis): A watershed moment, with the Wildfire Charter, enhanced NAP support, and strong convergence with India’s resilience strategies.

This progression reflects mounting pressure from civil society, scientific communities, and global events—from Mediterranean wildfires to catastrophic floods in Asia—showing that climate disruptions are interconnected across borders and systems.

3. India: Ground Zero for Climate Risk, Ground-breaker in Resilience

India is widely recognised as one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world. Its vast geography makes it susceptible to a range of climate impacts:

• Rising sea levels threaten megacities like Mumbai, Kochi, and Chennai
• Glacial melt and GLOFs (Glacial Lake Outburst Floods) endanger Himalayan communities
• Heatwaves and droughts strain agriculture and water supplies across central and western India
• Cyclones and floods regularly devastate the enormous coastal and north-eastern regions

Despite these challenges, India is not merely coping—it is setting global precedents in resilience thinking, combining scientific innovation, grassroots adaptation, and multilateral diplomacy.

At the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated, “Resilience is not charity—it’s shared security.” This statement encapsulates India’s core message: that investing in resilience is essential not just for climate justice but for global economic and social stability. India’s three-pronged approach—institutional innovation, decentralised climate action, and global coalition-building—offers a replicable model.

4. India’s National Blueprint for Resilience

India’s climate resilience strategy is multi-sectoral and deeply embedded in its development planning:

• Early Warning Systems: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) now provides cyclone, heatwave, and flood alerts covering the entire coastline and major river basins. The successful evacuation before Cyclone Phailin in 2013—resulting in near-zero casualties—set a global benchmark.
• PM-KUSUM Scheme: This flagship initiative empowers farmers to adopt solar-powered irrigation, reducing dependence on fossil fuels and unreliable monsoons while increasing income security.
• National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC): The NAFCC funds over 30 projects at the state level, focusing on sectors such as water conservation, climate-resilient crops, and ecosystem-based adaptation.
• Smart Cities Mission: More than 100 cities are integrating climate resilience into infrastructure planning, including flood-resilient buildings, green public spaces, and improved drainage networks.
• State Action Plans on Climate Change (SAPCCs): Each Indian state has been tasked with developing a localised adaptation strategy, linking climate risk assessments to agriculture, water, energy, and public health systems.

Together, these efforts are transforming India into a living lab for climate adaptation—from mangrove plantations in Sundarbans to urban heat mitigation in Ahmedabad.

5. CDRI: A Global Force for Resilient Infrastructure

Launched by India in 2019, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) is now a globally recognised multilateral initiative. Headquartered in New Delhi, CDRI is supported by over 45 countries and organisations, including Japan, the United States, the UK, and the EU.

CDRI provides technical, financial, and policy support to countries seeking to make their infrastructure more resilient. By focusing on practical, scalable solutions, CDRI aligns closely with the G7’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII). It ensures that development investments are not just robust today but adaptable tomorrow.

6. Mission LiFE: Resilience Begins at Home

India’s leadership on resilience extends beyond institutions to individual action. Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment), unveiled by PM Modi alongside UN Secretary-General António Guterres in 2022, promotes behavioural change as a resilience strategy.

Rather than framing climate action as a government responsibility alone, LiFE mobilises citizens to:

• Conserve energy and water,
• Adopt sustainable mobility options,
• Reduce waste and emissions at the household level,
• Prepare families for climate emergencies.

LiFE integrates climate awareness into education, housing, urban planning, and disaster preparedness. Its people-centric model is now being studied by G7 nations as a blueprint for public engagement in adaptation strategies, marking a significant moment of South-to-North policy transfer.

7. Financing Resilience: India’s Advocacy and Innovation

One of the greatest barriers to climate adaptation is financing. While trillions flow into mitigation projects like renewable energy, adaptation remains underfunded, especially in vulnerable countries.

India has taken a bold stance, calling for:

• Reforming Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs): To integrate climate resilience metrics into lending frameworks.
• Dedicated adaptation finance windows: Separate from loans, emphasising grants for the most vulnerable.
• Resilience bonds: Instruments that allow cities and states to raise funds linked to risk reduction outcomes.

At Kananaskis, India proposed using AI-powered risk modelling tools—developed through CDRI and the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM)—to de-risk infrastructure investments and attract private capital. Cities like Surat and Bhubaneswar are now piloting such models to access global green finance markets.

8. Toward a Resilience-First Global Architecture

India has consistently pushed for a “resilience-first” framework in global climate governance. This means:

• Establishing a Global Resilience Compact, linking funding, technology, and knowledge-sharing mechanisms.
• Elevating locally led adaptation in global frameworks—especially for Indigenous, rural, and marginalised communities.
• Broadening the metrics of climate finance to include resilience dividends, such as avoided losses, improved livelihoods, and reduced migration pressures.

These priorities were reflected in the G7’s Kananaskis outcome document, which committed to incorporating adaptation and resilience goals into the post-2025 global climate finance targets, to be finalised at COP30 in Brazil.

9. Global Convergence: From G7 to G20 to COP30

The next 18 months present a rare geopolitical alignment:

• France will host the G7 in 2026, with a focus on green industrialisation and just transitions.
• South Africa will chair the G20 in 2025–26, with equity and development as central themes.
• Brazil will lead COP30, tasked with setting the post-2025 climate finance roadmap.

India sees this moment as a historic opportunity to build coherence across these platforms. It is championing:

• A unified global roadmap for resilience;
• Integrating CDRI and ISA (International Solar Alliance) projects into new climate finance mechanisms;
• Launching a Global Early Warning System Fund, developed in collaboration with the Santiago Network on Loss and Damage.

10. Conclusion: India’s Transformative Leadership in Resilience

As climate disasters escalate in intensity and frequency, the world can no longer afford to treat resilience as an afterthought. India is demonstrating that resilience is not just about survival—it is about transformation.

Through institutional leadership (CDRI, ISA), people-centric campaigns (LiFE), financial innovation (resilience bonds), and international advocacy (UNFCCC, G20, G7), India is redefining the global conversation. It is proving that countries on the frontlines of climate risk can also be at the forefront of solutions.

The G7’s embrace of climate resilience, guided in part by India’s advocacy, marks a critical shift in global governance. It underscores the reality that resilience is shared security—a foundation not only for climate justice but for global peace, prosperity, and stability.

As the world braces for more unpredictable and disruptive climate impacts, India’s dual role as a vulnerable nation and a visionary leader will be indispensable in shaping a safer, more adaptive future for all.