On World Environment Day, we reaffirm our commitment to climate action where it matters most.

In this thought piece a few of our Global South Climate Practitioners from Intellecap-Anant Natu, Prachi Seth, Kavya Hari, Susmit Datta, Ankit Gupta, Samantha D’Souza, James Ogada and Ankur Kathuria talk about some of the work we do, why scaling climate solutions and innovations matter, and how we are combating the climate crisis, with credibility, capital and collaboration.
From Climate Risk for Financial Institutions, Carbon Markets Integrity, Urban Heat Resilience, Financing Climate Adaptation, Making Climate Tech Affordable, Climate Finance, Clean Energy Solutions and Rethinking Fertilizer Strategy, the Climate Consulting team shares insights around how we are solving complex climate problems and working across the spectrum of resilience.

Climate Risk for Financial Institutions by Anant Natu, Partner, Intellecap

CDP estimates over $84 billion of Indian bank debt is already exposed to climate
risk from extreme weather alone, and that’s 2020 data. Banks are just the visible part; across the broader financial ecosystem, MFIs lending to smallholder farmers, NBFCs financing MSMEs, and development institutions backing infrastructure, the exposure runs deeper and the capacity to assess it is far thinner. At Intellecap, we work across the financial ecosystem to embed climate risk into credit policies, build actionable climate strategies, and develop tools that help institutions turn exposure into informed decisions.

Carbon Market Integrity by Kavya Hari, Principal, Intellecap

Carbon market integrity rests on three foundations that must work together: trustworthy data, grounded in evidence and science; fit-for-purpose technology; and the right institutional frameworks. At Intellecap, we are building that infrastructure: digital MRV systems that make measurement and verification credible, implementation models that direct value to farmers and communities, institutional and policy support that helps countries participate in global markets, and innovative financing approaches that scale these markets. Get these foundations right, and carbon markets can do what they were meant to do: deliver verified climate outcomes and real value for the farmers and communities at the heart of the transition.

Urban Heat Resilience by Susmit Datta, Partner, Intellecap

With half of India’s GDP and 3/4th of India’s labour force exposed to heat stress, we urgently need scalable heat adaptation solutions that protect individual well-being, livelihoods and productivity. This summer, with the support of Shell Foundation and Trane Technologies, Intellecap is piloting three innovative and affordable cooling solutions that benefit outdoor working communities, like gig executives, construction workers, nano entrepreneurs, farmers, etc. These pilots across nearly 20 sites reveal that innovation grounded in real user feedback – from comfort and durability to cost – actually creates solutions that can work at scale. At the same time, we are tackling the other persistent problem – how do we rapidly commercialise production of the successful cooling innovations by aggregating demand, localising production and establishing last-mile distribution so that it can eventually benefit millions of users.

Financing climate adaptation by Ankit Gupta, Partner, Intellecap

Intellecap is actively raising, managing, and deploying climate finance with a dedicated focus on adaptation, recognising that while climate mitigation attracts significant investment, adaptation remains critically underfunded. We work closely with players in sectors such as climate-smart agriculture, agroforestry, water resilience, and nature-based solutions to develop bankable projects, define revenue models, and prepare Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for financing. We are also supporting state governments to define adaptation investment opportunities and identify financing opportunities aligned with local climate resilience priorities.

To address systemic barriers, we have established adaptation finance working groups in India and Africa, bringing together banks, foundations, multilateral and bilateral institutions, enterprises, think tanks, NGOs, and other stakeholders. These platforms are deliberating challenges, defining innovative financing instruments, and catalysing partnerships, with the objective to launch dedicated adaptation finance instruments.

Clean Energy Solutions by James Ogada, Partner, Intellecap

The energy transition in Africa is not waiting for technology; it is waiting for finance. Our work builds the financial and market architecture that enables households and businesses to access and productively use clean energy solutions, meeting people where they are rather than where the model assumes them to be.

Making climate tech affordable by Prachi Seth, Partner, Intellecap

We have no shortage of solutions. What we need are the systems, institutions, and capital structures that move them from a pilot to a market. Intellecap works at exactly that gap — helping climate focused businesses design for affordability and scale and working with financiers to structure the instruments that make investment flow. The gap between what works and what scales is where the greatest climate opportunity of our time sits, and we are bridging it.

Rethinking Fertilizer Strategy by Ankur Kathuria, Partner, Intellecap

The current disruption in fertilizer supply chains owing to the West Asia crisis highlights a key vulnerability in Indian agriculture. While rising input costs are a challenge, they also create an opportunity to accelerate biological fertilizer adoption. By converting agricultural waste into valuable nutrients, we can reduce dependence on imported fertilizers, improve soil health, and lower costs for farmers. Intellecap is working with partners to expand local biological fertilizer production which will also generate rural employment and strengthen farm inputs security at the village level. While the efforts are already underway, this is the moment to scale them faster and build a more resilient agricultural system.

Financing Africa’s Climate-Resilient Future by Samantha Dsouza

Catalytic capital is the bridge between potential and performance. Through adaptive fund design and blended finance, GFIF is proving that with the right support, Agri-SMEs can lead Africa’s transition to climate-resilient, nutrition-sensitive food systems.

What connects these thought pieces of our work is not just about solutions but a shared conviction that the Global South’s urgent climate challenges are solvable right here with the right tools, institutions, and collaboration. This World Environment Day, the Intellecap team recommits to building that ecosystem, and to doing the work the crisis demands of us.