India, Nov. 6 -- A failed monsoon, a drying village water source or declining forest produce can mean a lost harvest, mounting debt or the erosion of a season's income. For rural and forest-dependent communities, climate change is not an abstract risk; it is a threat to livelihoods. Yet while vulnerability is experienced locally, decisions about climate finance often remain distant from the communities that need it most.

As the world approaches COP31 in Antalya, the challenge is not simply to mobilise more climate finance, but to correct the imbalance between financing emissions reduction and preparing communities to live with climate impacts already unfolding. Mitigation attracts investment through energy transitions, infrastructure and...