Heat Damage to Indian Farms Shows the Adaptation Finance Gap Ahead of COP31
Unusually high temperatures that continued after the summer season are hurting Indian crops. Farmers report stunted fruit, poor germination (seeds failing to sprout properly) and broken crop cycles.
In Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, a banana farmer reported that growth and yield fell by nearly 50%. Plants that used to give six or seven bunches now give four or five, because of unseasonal heat in the period (from October) when the crop normally grows fastest. Vegetable growers report losses in crops like okra (bhindi) and gourd.
Experts say climate warnings and weather forecasts often do not turn into action on the ground. Farmers get the warning but lack the money, seeds or tools to protect their crops.
They link this to a shortage of adaptation finance: money that helps communities prepare for and survive climate impacts that can no longer be avoided. The UN Environment Programme's Adaptation Gap Report 2025 found that developing countries received only about USD 26 billion of international public adaptation finance in 2023.
India's own Initial Adaptation Communication (submitted to the UN climate body in December 2023) estimated that India needs about Rs 56.68 lakh crore (Rs 56.68 trillion) in cumulative adaptation spending by 2030.
The issue comes just before COP31, the UN climate conference to be held in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026, where adaptation and finance are key topics.
Adaptation Finance Under the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement
Adaptation finance is money spent to help people, farms, cities and nature cope with the effects of climate change that are already happening or can no longer be avoided. It pays for things like heat-tolerant seeds, better irrigation, early warning systems, stronger embankments and heat action plans. Under the global climate treaties, rich (developed) countries have promised to help poorer (developing) countries pay for such work. The big problem today is that the money promised and delivered is far less than what is needed.
The banana and vegetable losses in Andhra Pradesh are the kind of harm that adaptation finance is meant to prevent, through heat-tolerant varieties, better forecasts that reach farmers, and insurance. The global flow of about USD 26 billion a year is far below the hundreds of billions needed, which is why adaptation finance will be a key fight at COP31 in Antalya.
Climate-Resilient Agriculture in India
Climate-resilient agriculture means farming in a way that can survive and recover from climate shocks like heat waves, droughts, floods and uneven rain. It relies on better seeds, smarter use of water, healthier soils and timely weather advice, so that yields and incomes do not collapse when the weather turns bad. India's main efforts include ICAR's research project NICRA and the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture under the climate action plan.
The smaller banana bunches and failed okra and gourd germination show what happens when heat warnings reach farmers without resilient seeds, irrigation or advice to act on. Scaling up climate-resilient farming needs steady money, which is why it depends on both India's budget and international adaptation finance.
UNFCCC and the Conference of the Parties (COP)
The UNFCCC is the main world treaty on climate change, agreed at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. Its Conference of the Parties (COP) is the yearly meeting of all member countries and is the treaty's highest decision-making body. Decisions at a COP are taken by consensus, so every country must at least not object.
COP31 is the next place where countries will argue over how much adaptation money developing countries get and how fast. Indian farm losses from heat are being used as evidence of why that money is urgent.
- Banana yield loss reported in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh: nearly 50% (four to five bunches instead of six or seven)
- Crops reported hit by unseasonal heat: banana, okra, gourd
- International public adaptation finance to developing countries: about USD 26 billion (2023), per UNEP Adaptation Gap Report 2025
- Developing countries' adaptation needs: USD 310 to 365 billion a year by 2035
- India's Initial Adaptation Communication (December 2023): Rs 56.68 lakh crore cumulative adaptation need by 2030
- India's adaptation-related spending: 3.7% of GDP (2015-16) → 5.6% of GDP (2021-22)
- COP31: Antalya, Türkiye, 9 to 20 November 2026; Australia leads negotiations
- NCQG (COP29): USD 300 billion a year by 2035
- COP30 (Belém): call to triple adaptation finance by 2035