Context

• South Asia, home to nearly two billion people, stands at the frontline of escalating environmental disasters, monsoon floods, landslides, glacial melt, and extreme heatwaves.
• This crisis unfolds amid a world where multilateralism is under strain, climate pledges are weakened, and trade protectionism is rising.
• Yet, despite the fractures in global cooperation, collective action remains indispensable.
• In this shifting landscape, South Asia’s role is expanding, not only as a region of vulnerability but as a centre of climate leadership shaped by necessity, experience, and a moral imperative to act.

The Global Context: Eroding Trust and Emerging Leadership

• Global climate governance has been weakened by broken promises and political withdrawal, including the repeated exit of the United States from the Paris Agreement.
• Such actions have undermined trust and tested the credibility of international processes. Yet, smaller and more vulnerable states have stepped forward to fill the void.
• Small island nations, emerging economies, and coalitions of the willing have become the new drivers of climate ambition.
• Within this dynamic, South Asia has emerged as a pragmatic and collaborative force.

South Asia’s Climate Priorities

• Implementation - The Achilles Heel of Climate Action
  • The greatest gap in global climate governance lies between pledges and performance. Promised action and finance often fail to materialize.
  • Out of 203 initiatives launched since 2015, only 5% have achieved their stated goals. This failure highlights the need for regional cooperation to strengthen delivery.
  • South Asian countries are calling for robust governance, clear timelines, and inclusive participation that gives a voice to local communities, women, and subnational governments.
  • Platforms such as the G-20, BIMSTEC, and BRICS can serve as regional anchors for a common climate stance.
• Adaptation on Par with Mitigation
  • In South Asia, climate adaptation must stand shoulder-to-shoulder with emission mitigation.
  • The region faces a future where days exceeding 35°C may double by 2100, intensifying existing vulnerabilities.
  • Nepal’s glacial lake outburst floods, coastal erosion in the Maldives, India’s extreme heatwaves, and Sri Lanka’s emerging drylands reveal the diversity and urgency of threats.
  • To respond effectively, countries require technical, institutional, and financial support for adaptation plans.
• Rebuilding Trust through Ambitious Action
  • Trust is the cornerstone of global climate cooperation, yet it has been eroded by delayed finance, diluted commitments, and geopolitical tension.
  • Developed nations are off-track to meet their 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets, weakening faith in collective processes.
  • Fulfilling existing pledges, aligning new commitments with the 1.5°C goal, and ensuring accountability are essential to restore credibility.
  • Without genuine delivery, every unkept promise widens the divide between developed and developing worlds and undermines multilateralism itself.
• Climate Finance - From Promises to Predictability
  • For South Asia, finance is the lifeblood of action. Effective climate finance must be predictable, adequate, fairly distributed, easily accessible, and non-debt inducing.
  • Vague targets such as the $300 billion adaptation goal by 2035 will remain meaningless without clear pathways outlining who delivers, how much, by when, and with what accountability.
  • The proposed Baku to Belém Roadmap to $1.3 trillion must be grounded in operational clarity.
  • South Asia’s Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are calling for a tripling of adaptation finance and dedicated regional allocations from funds such as the Green Climate Fund, the Loss and Damage Fund, and the Adaptation Fund.
• Mobilising Non-State Actors as Engines of Scale
  • The climate transition cannot be achieved by nation-states alone. Non-state actors, including local governments, the private sector, civil society, youth, academia, and businesses, must become engines of scale.
  • The private sector can unlock new sources of finance; subnational entities can implement and align with national goals; civil society can conduct independent assessments; youth movements can inject innovation and intergenerational equity; and businesses can integrate sustainability into markets and supply chains.
  • This distributed model of action reinforces a cycle of accountability, innovation, and trust, helping rebuild confidence in multilateral processes.

The Path Forward: From Promises to Delivery

• The time for rhetoric has passed. Delivery is now the only currency of trust.
• Effective climate action must rest on three foundations:
  • Mutual clarity — defining responsibilities and transparent pathways;
  • Mutual cooperation — acknowledging both vulnerabilities and opportunities;
  • Mutual implementation — turning promises into practice across borders and sectors.
• South Asia’s climate leadership demonstrates that even in an era of political division, progress is possible through collaboration, innovation, and accountability.
• The region’s message to the world is unequivocal: multilateralism must be restored to credibility through delivery.

Conclusion

• In an age where the global climate regime struggles with credibility, South Asia stands out as a voice of pragmatic hope.
• Its leadership embodies collective responsibility, regional solidarity, and moral urgency.
• By prioritising implementation, adaptation, trust, finance, and participation, South Asia signals a transformation in climate diplomacy, one that values action over rhetoric and inclusion over isolation.