Climate disasters between 2000 and 2004 affected 262 million people, 98 per cent of them in the developing world. The poor are often forced to sell productive assets or save on food, health and education, creating “life-long cycles of disadvantage.”

The report states that a temperature rise of between 3 and 4 degrees Celsius would displace 340 million people through flooding and droughts. Retreating glaciers would cut off drinking water from as many as 1.8 billion people.

Though India’s carbon footprint is 15 times less than that of the US, when climate disasters strike, it is the poor here who will be affected. People in countries like India have begun adapting in their own way: Partnerships between communities and local governments in states such as Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat for watershed development have been showcased as examples of what can be achieved.

Meanwhile, those on the margins, have already begun adapting, with or without outside help. In West Bengal , women living in the Ganges delta have begun constructing elevated bamboo platforms to take refuge during the monsoons. In Maharashtra, farmers have begun coping with increased exposure to drought by investing in watershed development.

“Successful adaptation planning has the potential to avert economy-wide losses,” states the report.

... contd.