EVEN before the USA’s recent withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and other international climate commitments, after President Donald Trump’s executive order, climate messaging often failed to resonate at a local level. More than the complexity of global warming, it’s the lack of relatability that often prevents the issue from truly resonating with people globally.
For the majority of the working population, whether in blue- or white-collar roles, taking meaningful action requires a sense of immediate relevance. What hyperlocal context would make climate issues seem more urgent? And beyond awareness, what practical steps could empower individuals to see tangible impact in their daily lives and communities?
Guiding Hands
For over a decade, AVPN has acted as a social investment network for funders, helping to forge ‘unusual alliances’ for collaboration on various investment themes. However, from 2020 onwards, Aravindan Srinivasan (pictured above) and his colleagues at AVPN observed a significant change in member priorities, which they felt reflected a shift in regional investment priorities.
“No surprise, health is one of the major themes,” says Aravindan, Executive Director Climate Action at AVPN. “But two things that came up additionally, that were very surprising for us were climate and gender. These are not topics that are traditional in the realms of philanthropy, impact investment or any kind of socially lead impact minded investments.”
Aravindan outlines how AVPN is guiding its members through these shifts in sentiment. “For us, the goal is to unpack these broad themes both in a way that makes sense for everyday people, and in a way that makes sense from an investment standpoint.”
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Actionable Intelligence And Groupthink
Aravindan has overseen the organisation’s shift from solely facilitating networking towards accumulating and distributing critical knowledge. “We’ve done a lot of research and reports on the region’s pressing climate issues — identifying key priorities for Asia, assessing which countries are most affected, examining regional implications, and exploring the roles of both governments and investors.”
Beyond education, AVPN identifies appropriate vehicles into which their members can deploy capital, and enables them to invest collectively, which reduces perceived risk, and increases confidence in non-traditional investments. Aravindan confirms the group investment trend, “Your appetite to try new things and make big bets goes up.”
This collaborative approach not only fosters innovation but accelerates learning through direct experience.
AVPN has already launched three climate-focused funds, each targeting different aspects of the crisis.
“Every time we do a fund; we’re flooded with proposals — 300 applications for just 15 funding spots.”
Aravindan marvels at this sheer volume of ideas, which underscores the dynamism of Asia’s climate innovation space, where impact-driven business models are pushing the boundaries of sustainability.
Local Climate Realities
Many would be familiar with Aravindan’s explanation of climate change. At its core, it stems from greenhouse gas emissions, primarily driven by human activities like fossil fuel consumption. While early concerns centred on CFCs and ozone depletion, today’s biggest contributors — carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and sulphur dioxide — trap heat in the atmosphere, leading to rising global temperatures and other far-reaching consequences.
Yet this explanation does little to resonate with local communities, making it essential to localise climate change impacts through three key considerations — mitigation, adaptation, and resilience — each of which Aravindan explores at a high level.
Mitigation
Aravindan breaks down the two main considerations of mitigation: “One is how do we grow; how do we build industries without emitting? And second, how do we capture what we have already emitted and clean up the house?” He highlights that discussions on energy transition and industrial decarbonisation are central to addressing these challenges.
Adaptation
Adaptation, in the context of climate change, refers to the adjustments made to social, economic, and environmental practices to minimise the damage caused by its impacts.
As Aravindan explains, this is particularly critical in regions like Asia. “Most western economies have grown on industrialisation, but Asia, much of which has been colonised over the last century, hasn’t reaped those benefits.” This has left the region more vulnerable to climate change despite contributing the least to global emissions.
Given the region’s position near the equator, Aravindan notes that “heat affects the southern hemisphere more than the northern hemisphere,” with tropical areas already experiencing intensified climate impacts.
This rising heat brings about significant shifts in disease patterns, including the spread of vector-borne diseases like malaria, and the increased incidence of diseases like cholera during flooding events. “Dengue outbreaks are happening in previously unaffected places,” Aravindan adds, illustrating the growing health risks tied to climate change.
Aravindan links the expansion of urban areas to increasing pollution levels.
“Environmental degradation means air pollution in cities.”
Waste management, which plays a significant role in reducing emissions, also presents a major concern. Aravindan points out the importance of controlling waste to prevent methane emissions, noting that “how we segregate and treat waste is crucial, not just for minimising resource consumption, but for recovering valuable components and extracting those harmful for the environment.”
Adaptation is particularly important in the face of a steadily shifting climate. “Our best-case scenario by the turn of the century is limiting warming to 1.5°C,” Aravindan acknowledges, but he emphasises that “the realistic scenario looks at 2.8°C, based on current trajectories.”
As temperatures rise, adaptation strategies must address the destruction of infrastructure such as schools and hospitals. “How are we going to find the money to rebuild that?” Aravindan challenges, highlighting the financial strain adaptation will place on communities.
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Resilience
Resilience is about equipping communities to withstand the unpredictable impacts of climate change. “We are no longer able to predict when is monsoon season, when is it going to be summer, when is it going to be winter,” Aravindan points out. This uncertainty makes it crucial to provide real-time information systems that help people adapt on the ground. “If heat is going to rise tomorrow, farmers need to know to increase irrigation today,” he says, emphasising the importance of adaptive tools that offer immediate feedback, from soil testing to fertiliser recommendations.
Coastal communities are particularly vulnerable, as rising global temperatures affect oceans even more severely than inland. “The 1.5°C we talk about is an average — water temperatures are often higher, and that means marine life is hit hardest,” Aravindan notes. He highlights the cascading impact on fisheries, coastal livelihoods, and even inland food systems, reinforcing that resilience is not just about survival but also about helping communities find alternative ways to thrive.
Building resilience also requires financial coordination, as no single funding source is sufficient to tackle the scale of the challenge.
“Philanthropic money is small compared to government money, and government money is small compared to private sector money,” Aravindan points out.
He emphasises the need to align different sources of capital — each unlocking the next stage of investment — to make climate resilience efforts as effective as possible.
The Role Of Government
Aravindan highlights the critical role of government in climate action.
“Climate change needs to be presented in a way that resonates with people. When you say that because of rising heat crops are failing or pests are increasing, they understand that.
“It’s no longer about polar bears on drifting ice caps — it’s real and personal.”
Governments must connect the issue of climate change directly to people’s lives, raising awareness and ensuring public engagement.
The first step, according to Aravindan, is for governments to acknowledge the problem. “There are still governments in denial about climate change. The role of leadership is to accept that climate change is a challenge, one that will impact both the quality and quantity of life for future generations.”
He asserts the importance of setting realistic but ambitious targets for decarbonising economies without hindering growth, particularly in regions with high levels of inequality and vulnerable populations.
Governments must also establish a clear roadmap for the transition. Aravindan suggests potential areas for investment, such as redirecting subsidies from fossil fuels towards cleaner alternatives.
“Subsidies for oil and gas should be shifted to cleaner energy sources, and new infrastructure is crucial, like battery swapping and charging technologies for electric vehicles. Governments have a pivotal role in enabling these transitions, supporting a sustainable future without sacrificing economic development.”
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Responsibility Beyond Policy
Despite systemic solutions, Aravindan stresses the need for individual responsibility. “We’re torn between apathy — I didn’t create this problem, so someone else should deal with it —and its impact on future generations.” True progress, he argues, requires acknowledging and paying the real price of our actions.
“This isn’t a battle that policy can win alone — every package we order, every takeaway container adds to the burden the planet must bear.”
The Role Of Philanthropy
Aravindan discusses the critical role of philanthropy in driving innovation, particularly in funding fundamental research and developing new technologies. “Philanthropy and impact-led capital can take on more risk and have a longer time horizon,” he explains, highlighting that unlike governments, philanthropy isn’t bound by taxpayer accountability, allowing it to invest in high-risk, high-reward initiatives. This flexibility enables the testing of new models that, even if they fail, provide valuable lessons for future projects.
Philanthropy also plays a pivotal role in supporting governments by helping them build the capacity to respond to climate change, providing technical expertise, influencing climate-smart budgets, and fostering industry incentives. Through these actions, philanthropic capital can unlock further investment from the private sector.
Promising Solutions
Aravindan highlights the progress being made in a number of promising projects across Asia, especially in the realm of transportation. “Electrification of buses is the simplest solution to reducing air pollution and emissions in cities.” This shift is gaining momentum, with China leading the way and India now beginning to adopt similar initiatives. The electrification of public transport is seen as one of the most effective investments for cleaner urban environments, and the region is taking significant steps toward this goal.
In agriculture, Aravindan points to the rise of climate-smart farming solutions designed to make crops more resilient to extreme weather, including innovations such as new fertilisers that protect soil fertility and techniques to enhance water efficiency in cultivation. “Great solutions are emerging,” he says, noting that these methods are already being supported and implemented across the region.
He also mentions the development of hybrid crop varieties, which are more water-efficient than traditional rice farming methods, reducing emissions linked to water-intensive cultivation practices.
“Originally, there were about 90 different grain varieties that were grown here locally. All of them consumed less water than rice. Rice is very water intensive, and we are now addicted to it.”
Aravindan nods to technologies that enable rice cultivation while consuming significantly less water.
Give Waste Another Shot
Another critical area of progress is waste management, where Aravindan underscores the economic potential of recycling and waste collection. “There is a whole host of industries we can create in recycling that will provide dignified livelihoods,” he explains.
With only 40% of waste being collected in India, there is ample room for growth in waste management and green job creation.
Aravindan advocates for the development of these industries, which not only offer better economic opportunities but also contribute to a cleaner, more sustainable planet.
To Aravindan, AVPN’s role in this process is clear.
“Channel the capital, and then the investors take over. They work with the innovators and governments and they take the journey forward.”
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Running Out Of Time
Aravindan emphasises that the impacts of climate change are already here, warning that “we have started seeing this in our lives, and over the next 20 years, its effects will become even more apparent.” He insists that the urgency lies in how fast we can adapt and implement solutions.
“It’s not a question of when do you start, but how fast can you go?”
However, he highlights a key challenge — ensuring that vulnerable communities are not left behind. “It doesn’t need to be either/or; we depend on the planet for our resources,” he says, reminding us that almost half of all industries rely on nature.
He further notes the dire situation in India, where 140 districts — almost 70% — are highly vulnerable to climate change. With seven of the 10 most vulnerable countries to climate change located in Asia, Aravindan stresses that “the threat is very immediate for us”.
He points out that Asia, with a population of four billion, has two billion people who are already marginalised and will be most affected by climate change.
