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222 Economic Survey 2020-21 Volume 1

schemes have an immense impact in reducing production losses during dry periods; but can also
lead to unsustainable extraction of ground water. These incentive schemes need to be designed
by considering cropping patterns, local environment, and climate projections, and should
further incentivise farmers to adopt water conservation and rainwater harvesting practices. Such
convergence will not only build local resilience while transitioning to low carbon technology
but will also influence the credit market in developing guidelines for supporting much needed
technological advancement in the agriculture sector.

6.36 The Global Commission on Adaptation (GCA) (Figure 9) in its flagship report concluded
that investing US$ 1.8 trillion globally in five areas i.e. strengthening early warning systems,
making new infrastructure resilient, improving dryland agriculture crop production, protecting
mangroves and making water resources management more resilient-from 2020 to 2030 could
generate US$ 7.1 trillion in total net benefits, as overall rate of return on such investments
is high with benefit-cost ratios ranging from 2:1 to 10:1 and higher. In addition to avoiding
losses, investing in the future can provide economic benefits now, by reducing risk, increasing
productivity, and driving innovation while continuing to restore the environment. Failing to do
so will, however, undermines potential growth and prosperity (GCA 2019).

Figure 9: Benefits and Costs of Illustrative Investments in Adaptation

Benefit-Cost Ratio Net Benefits
1.1 5.1 10.1
Strengthening early warning $0.1T
systems
Making new infrastructure $4.0T
resilient
Improving dryland agriculture
crop production $0.7T

Protecting mangroves $1.0T

Making water resources
management more resilient $1.4T

Total Net Benefits $7.1T

Source: GCA 2019 , T stands for trillion.
16

INDIA’S INITIATIVES AT THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE

International Solar Alliance (ISA)
6.37 International Solar Alliance (ISA) has recently launched two new initiatives – a ‘World
Solar Bank’ and ‘One Sun One World One Grid Initiative’ - of global import that are poised to

16 This graph is meant to illustrate the broad economic case for investment in a range of adaptation approaches. The net benefits
illustrate the approximate global net benefits to be gained by 2030 from an illustrative investment of US$1.8 trillion in five
areas (the total does not equal the sum of the rows due to rounding). Actual returns depend on many factors, such as economic
growth and demand, policy context, institutional capacities, and condition of assets. Also, these investments neither address
all that may be needed within sectors (for example, adaptation in the agricultural sector will consist of much more than
dryland crop production) nor include all sectors (as health, education, and industry sectors are not included). Due to data and
methodological limitations, this graph does not imply full comparability of investments across sectors or countries. (GCA
2019)