Needed: $1 trillion

India has been adamant about not accepting binding emissions reductions even as its emissions are set to rise from 1.6 bn tons per year in 2005 to 6.5 bn tons in 2030. A new report from McKinsey & Company calculates the cost of roughly halving carbon emissions growth by 2030 as $1.1 trillion (about 2.3% of GDP), spent mostly on energy efficiency efforts and renewable energy.

Unless action is taken, consequences could be dire! In India the report estimates that by 2030 significant drought could produce countrywide agricultural losses of more than $7 billion, decreasing the income of 10% of the population. Under the high climate change scenario, severe droughts occurring historically every 25 years could happen every eight.

However, referring to the state of Maharashtra, mitigation measures such as more efficient irrigation, better drainage construction and crop engineering could eliminate much of this loss due to drought.

Though India recently climbed to the fourth-place position in terms of national emissions, its per-capita emissions remain among the lowest in the world -- 1/20th of those in US in fact, but growing at twice the world average rate.

According to the Economics of Climate Adaptation Working Group's Shaping Climate Resistant Development report, by 2030 climate risks could cost nations 19% of GDP, with developing nations most vulnerable. But existing cost-effective measures exist can prevent 40-68% of expected economic losses.

The report looked at estimated economic losses in eight different case study regions (China, United States, Guyana, Mali, United Kingdom, Samoa, India, and Tanzania) and under three different scenarios -- under today's climate (no further climate change impact), moderate climate change (middle of the road climate projections), high climate change (the outer range considered possible by 2030).

Where will the $1 trillion come from?