Today’s interview is with Ritu Bharadwaj, who leads IIED’s climate change work. Ritu has extensive experience of social protection, climate resilience (policy, planning and finance) and other related issues, and has worked across a number of countries, in particular India.
As a founding Partner of REAP, IIED has been deeply involved in REAP’s mission to take people-centred early action to scale. Even before taking on the role of Team Leader of IIED’s Climate Change Group, Ritu was spearheading several initiatives to bring about change from policy to practice and we caught up with her to find out a little more about them.
1. Tell us about how the Alliance for Locally Led Approaches for Transformative Action on Loss and Damage (ALL ACT) came about, and why it is so important.
ALL ACT, is a proactive response to the escalating climate crisis, especially its impacts on Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Born from a partnership between IIED and the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), it emerged against a backdrop of urgent calls for action to address loss and damage (L&D) effectively. COP27 recognised this as a priority, and COP28 acted on it by establishing an L&D fund. However, actualising this fund's promise requires swift, scalable support and finance mechanisms, precisely what ALL ACT aims to deliver.
Understanding the multifaceted nature of climate impacts, ALL ACT underscores the necessity for agile, diverse, and context-specific approaches. It is designed to overcome the limitations of existing financing mechanisms, which are often too rigid and slow, preventing timely and effective L&D response.
By fostering collaborative dialogues, ALL ACT intends to co-create adaptive, locally-led solutions, ensuring that support is directly aligned with the affected communities' needs. It plans to streamline finance governance through national L&D facilities, enhancing the efficiency and impact of funds. Ultimately, ALL ACT seeks to catalyse a global movement towards immediate, impactful action on L&D, reflecting a commitment to solidarity, innovation, and resilience in the face of climate challenges.
2. What early warning/early action initiatives are you working on?
Two of our recent efforts directly support early warning and early action. They are the Climate Resilience Information System and Planning Tool (CRISP-M) and the Anticipatory Social Protection Index for Resilience (ASPIRE).
CRISP-M, developed in collaboration with the Indian Ministry of Rural Development and supported by the UK FCDO, is a tool designed to enhance climate resilience within India’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). It offers three core functionalities: climate risk-informed planning, a drought early warning system, and enhanced transparency and accountability through remote sensing and crowdsourced data. Crucially, CRISP-M empowers communities, particularly marginalised groups, through the community volunteer model of ‘Climate Saathis (friends)’, using a people plus tech approach, facilitating inclusive participation and ensuring that climate resilience measures are effectively implemented and benefits are shared equitably.
ASPIRE, on the other hand, is a diagnostic tool that assesses the readiness of a country's policies, systems, and social protection programmes to deliver climate resilience through anticipatory risk response. Through detailed indicators, it evaluates overarching policies and specific programme designs, focusing on their effectiveness in supporting anticipatory response and delivering resilience outcomes. ASPIRE's rigorous analysis across eight countries has provided valuable insights into how social protection can be tailored to better anticipate and respond to climate risks, supporting policymakers, funding agencies, and development practitioners in enhancing climate resilience.
Both CRISP-M and ASPIRE represent innovative approaches to integrating early warning systems with actionable resilience strategies and support delivery mechanisms, ensuring communities are not just aware of impending climate risks but are also equipped to respond effectively. These initiatives demonstrate our commitment to advancing climate resilience through technology, community engagement, and evidence-based policy interventions.
3. How has being a REAP Partner helped you scale up your work?
Our partnership with REAP has been useful in expanding the reach and efficacy of our climate resilience initiatives, particularly with tools like CRISP-M and ASPIRE. REAP has not only amplified the evidence, impact, and utility of these tools across its extensive members base but also provided a valuable support base for influencing national and international discourses – including the G20 and COPs, for example – on what action and support is needed, and how it can be delivered and financed to support early warning and early action.
REAP has facilitated opportunities for forging collaborations with a diverse group of stakeholders. This network, ranging from policymakers and practitioners to local communities and international organisations, has enriched our initiatives and efforts to support practical solutions with varied perspectives and expertise, driving innovative solutions and enhancing the adaptability and effectiveness of our work.
REAP's advocacy agenda has been a dynamic platform for us to contribute to and shape critical discussions on climate resilience. Through REAP, we've had the opportunity to influence policy and decision-making processes, advocating for early action and resilience-building measures that can be scaled globally.
4. What do you see as the next 1-2 priorities to tackle so that we can take early action to scale?
The establishment of the loss and damage fund at COP28 marks an important moment in climate action, offering new hope for communities most vulnerable to the climate crisis. As we look to the future, two priorities stand out to ensure the fund's impact is maximised: streamlining fund distribution to reach those most in need efficiently and fostering longer-term resilience through equitable funding.
First, enhancing the fund's efficiency through direct benefit transfers (DBT) is crucial. Learning from LDCs and SIDS show that such an approach significantly helped cut bureaucracy and ensured timely support. This involves developing a digitised, integrated beneficiary database to streamline identification, coupled with trigger-based funding mechanisms that automatically release funds based on early warnings or predefined risk thresholds. Such systems have already shown their worth in regions like Africa and the Caribbean, offering swift, timely, and predictable support.
Second, prioritising longer-term resilience is essential. The fund must ensure equitable disbursement, focusing on LDCs and SIDS using metrics like the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index to accurately target those in dire need. Moreover, untied grant funds are vital for these countries to invest in comprehensive risk management and resilience-building measures. Supporting LDCs and SIDS in establishing national facilities, as proposed under the ALL ACT initiative, will allow them to leverage various finance sources, ensuring funds meet local needs and priorities.
As we move forward, it's imperative that the fund's governance model is agile, inclusive, and capable of fostering synergies with other financial mechanisms. This approach will not only address immediate needs but also pave the way for sustainable, impactful action against the escalating challenges posed by climate change.