Press Release | As Climate Disasters Become the New Normal, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies Releases a New Study that Calls for a Shift from Relief-Centric Response to Community-Led Resilience in India

Study underscores India’s escalating climate disasters and calls for long-term investments in community-led resilience

Feb 17, 2026 | Mumbai, India –  Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies (RNP) today released a comprehensive new study titled ‘Resilience: Moving Beyond Surviving Climate Disasters to Supporting Communities to Thrive’, calling for a shift in how India approaches disaster preparedness and climate impacts — from short-term, reactive relief to long-term, proactive resilience building.

Produced in collaboration with Dalberg Advisors, the report shows that climate disasters are now a ‘new normal’ in India. Floods, droughts, cyclones, and heatwaves are happening more often, affecting most districts and disrupting people’s lives, livelihoods, and essential services. With annual economic losses from climate disasters already estimated at USD 12 billion and projected to rise as events grow more frequent and severe, the report argues that incremental improvements will no longer suffice. Today, 85% of India’s districts are exposed to floods, droughts, or cyclones, and in 2023, the country experienced extreme weather on 86% of days, underscoring how frequent and widespread these disruptions have become. More than 1.8 million hectares of cropland and over 80,000 homes were damaged in 2023 alone, signalling deep and recurring economic disruption.

The study adopted a three-pronged approach to understand the current state of disaster resilience, including extensive desk research, field visits, and learning circles & one-on-one interviews with leading experts and practitioners. The findings reaffirm that the disproportionate burden of climate disasters is borne by vulnerable groups – women, children, smallholder farmers, and low-income households- with studies indicating that it takes ~19 years for poor households to recover from a major climate shock.

The study also recognises that India has made remarkable progress in saving lives through anticipatory evacuations, rapid relief mobilisation, and stronger disaster response systems — with states like Odisha and Kerala demonstrating how preparedness and community engagement can reduce mortality.

The report makes a strong case that how communities experience, recover from, and rebuild after disasters will be central to India’s development ambitions and long-term well-being. It underscores that disaster response must now evolve into sustained resilience-building, equipping communities not just to withstand crises, but to recover faster, adapt, and thrive in a changing climate.

Speaking about the urgent need for attention to resilience building, Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson – Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, said, “If we continue to focus only on response, we will remain trapped in cycles of relief. Disasters are not waiting to happen; they are already happening routinely yet unobserved in people’s lives. We need to rethink a roadmap where communities are not passive recipients of aid but architects of their own recovery and future- grounded in agency, equity, and dignity.”

The study outlines five interdependent forms of capital: physical, financial, human, social, and natural, as the foundation of sustainable community resilience. It calls for investments in last-mile early warning systems, flexible and timely financing, ecosystem restoration, livelihood diversification, and strengthening local institutions and trust networks. Crucially, it emphasises that resilience must be built with communities, shifting decision-making, design, and resources closer to those most affected. It further outlines actionable pathways for governments, civil society, and philanthropies to build and support innovation and sustainable programmes to embed climate resilience.

The report was launched at the Mumbai Climate Week at a closed-door event co-hosted by The India Climate Collaborative and Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies. Shloka Nath, Executive Director, India Climate Collaborative, shared, “India’s climate action is increasingly anchored in responsibility to people, communities, and ecosystems. Yet our response remains overly emergency-led, normalising loss instead of investing in long-term resilience. Climate leadership now demands a shift, one where government, philanthropy, and civil society work together to make risk adaptation a sustained priority. Philanthropy has a critical role to play through flexible, patient capital that backs grounded solutions, strengthens local institutions, and ensures people are never reduced to nameless casualties in a climate-shaped future”.

About Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies

Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies (RNP) supports work that expands learning, strengthens democracy, and fosters climate resilience in India. Through strategic grants, research, convenings, and long-term partnerships with civil society, government, and community stakeholders, RNP seeks to catalyse systemic change and improve the quality of life for marginalised communities across the country.

For more information on the study and RNP, visit rohininilekaniphilanthropies.org

Downloadable link to the report: Click Here