As Türkiye prepares to host COP31 in Antalya from Nov. 9–20, with the conference framed as an “Implementation COP” focused on turning climate commitments into tangible progress, Indian environmental expert Dr. Vibha Dhawan says the urgency is growing as vulnerable communities face increasingly severe climate impacts.
Climate change is no longer a distant threat that needs to be explained to the public. It is becoming an increasingly visible part of everyday life, from devastating floods and droughts to extreme heat and unpredictable rainfall, according to Dhawan, director general of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).
“Those who have not really contributed toward climate change are the worst sufferers,” Dhawan, director general of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), told Daily Sabah in an interview ahead of COP31.
Dhawan said the world had warned for decades about climate change, but its impact on vulnerable communities is proving more severe than earlier projections suggested.
“A couple of decades back it was very difficult to convince people that climate change is going to impact their everyday life,” she said. “The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predictions, really speaking, it's uglier than what was predicted," she also warned that the effects go beyond rising temperatures.
She also pointed to floods, droughts, extreme heat and unpredictable rainfall that can leave communities unprepared. She cited recent flooding in Nepal as an example of how quickly extreme weather can overwhelm communities.
Dhawan said adaptation must accompany efforts to reach net-zero emissions, as the transition to cleaner energy and infrastructure will take years.
“All that is going to take years,” she said. “So what we really need to do today is, while we work on the future, we look into where our energy comes from.”
She also highlighted agriculture, where farmers face losses from both poor harvests and excess production. Agriculture contributes nearly 16% of greenhouse gas emissions, she said, making sustainable farming important for climate action and food security.
Dhawan pointed to India’s solar irrigation program as an example of how climate action can also create economic opportunities. Farmers can use solar-generated electricity for irrigation or sell it back to the grid.
“If the crop fails, they have still sold the energy, the solar energy, and therefore they are able to survive,” she said.
Ahead of COP31, Dhawan said the priority should be turning climate commitments into action, while financing remains a major challenge.
She also warned that concerns over livelihoods could slow the green transition.
“Everyone wants to move towards cleaner technologies,” she said. “Of course, there is skepticism, largely because they feel, 'Am I going to lose my job?'”
“Green jobs and green skilling are very essential,” she added.
Dhawan also pointed to the high cost of cleaner production in sectors such as steel and cement and the challenge of recycling critical minerals needed for renewable technologies.
“We need to do research,” she said, calling for better product design and investment to make recycling simpler and cheaper.
