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HSS Publication
Adaptation Finance for the Global South: Imperatives for a New EU-India Climate Partnership

Climate change is one of the most urgent global issues. Developing countries are disproportionately affected by its consequences and often lack the financial resources to respond adequately. The European Union, as the largest contributor of public climate finance to developing economies, is at the forefront of collective climate actions. However, European climate diplomacy often encounters scepticism in the Global South. With current legislative initiatives like the European Green Deal and trade negotiations, discussions on the best ways to collaborate between regions are both timely and critical.

The Brussels Office of the Hanns Seidel Foundation has published a compilation of essays on how South and Southeast Asian countries and the EU can collaborate more effectively to tackle climate change, featuring expert views from both regions. Through this publication, HSF is committed to fostering open dialogue between Asia and Europe, and to raise awareness not only about the challenges but also the opportunities for international cooperation, such as the exchange of best practises and technology, capacity building and harmonisation of policies. You can download the full publication here.

An essay titled ''Adaptation Finance for the Global South: Imperatives for a New EU-India Climate Partnership'' authored by Dr. Nilanjan Ghosh underscores the staggering gap between the climate adaptation financing needed and the actual funding available, particularly for the global south. He highlights key challenges, ethical and economic imperatives for investing in adaptation projects, and the role international cooperation, particularly between the EU and India, can play in addressing this crucial issue.

In making a strong case for adaptation financing, the essay discusses two imperatives: epistemological and ethical. The epistemological argument focuses on the social cost of carbon (SCC), which measures the damage caused by carbon emissions. While mitigation projects reduce emissions directly, adaptation projects mitigate the societal and economic impacts of climate change by building resilience. Traditional financing often overlooks these long-term social and environmental costs. The ethical imperative highlights the injustice faced by the global south, which bears the consequences of the global north’s unsustainable practices. These regions need time to transition to “net zero” targets while adapting to the disruptions caused by climate change. Without proper adaptation financing, communities in the global south risk facing severe impacts such as reduced agricultural productivity, displacement, and damage to ecosystems.

It also sheds light on the financing gap in India, where states bear the primary responsibility for adaptation-related interventions but struggle due to financial constraints. The COVID-19 pandemic, new fiscal rules, and existing debt burdens limit their capacity to bridge this gap.

This essay provides some actionable ideas by highlighting the importance of the EU-India climate partnership by embedding adaptation finance support in the existing frameworks. Dr. Ghosh also suggests expanding this collaboration into a trilateral partnership, with the EU mobilising financial resources and India helping with the technical know-how, thereby helping the cause of a third nation in the global south.