On September 16, 2025, India Foundation organised an interaction on the topic, “Global Governance Solutions to the Climate Crisis.” The speaker, Ms. Maja Groff, is an author, international lawyer, and Convenor of the Climate Governance Commission, which empowers organisations and leaders to focus their efforts on transitioning to a net-zero, climate-resilient economy. The interaction was attended by an eminent group of policy advocates and practitioners working on climate change. The interaction was chaired by Mr. Côme Carpentier, Distinguished Fellow at the India Foundation, who, after welcoming the speaker, briefly set the background for the talk, underscoring the frequency of extreme climate events and the polarizing world opinion on climate action.
Ms Maja Groff commenced the interaction by offering an overview of the Climate Governance Commission, which comprises of 19 eminent persons, including former heads of states, former ministers, boasting of a diverse geographic representation.
She underscored that the current predicament posed by the climate crisis offers an opportunity for streamlining international governance of the environment. She advocated for a comprehensive approach to planetary boundaries, which necessitates a system of Earth governance. Cautioning that 6 of the 9 planetary boundaries of the ecology had already been breached, she brought attention to the impact of climate change on the global economy, which, due to climate crises and disasters, is expected to shed 19% of its GDP. Insurance and actuaries have borne the immediate brunt of the economic effects of climate change, as insuring against increasingly unpredictable, all-encompassing, and cascading effects of climate change becomes a challenge.
Ms Groff underlined the need to protect all ecological systems, treating climate and biophysical systems as the common heritage of humankind. Outlining the intent of the organisation to advocate for institutionalisation of this principle to facilitate collective management, she opined that legal–institutional arrangements must espouse adaptive models of governance to address the fast-evolving circumstances. While agreeing that frameworks have contributed to devising strong norms, she opined that the proliferation of bilateral agreements has not been accompanied by timely implementation.
She demonstrated the contribution of the Climate Governance Commission toward developing tangible, time-bound policy proposals—e.g., during the Conference of the Parties (COP) in 2023—to fashioning next-generation institutions and empowering the United Nations Environment Programme. She described the need to de-fragment existing institutions and create emergency platforms to absorb global climate shocks and risks. Furthermore, she informed the guests of the Commission’s plans to prioritise proposals for the upcoming COP in Brazil. She concluded her remarks by emphasising the need for a corporate ecosystem, which will emerge from an alliance of the private sector and civil society, advancing a like-minded approach for reforms to face transnational challenges.
A lively round of Q/As followed, where the recent policies of the Trump Administration on climate management drew the attention of the guests. Ms Groff traced the frequent changes in climate policies brought about by shifts in dispensation in Washington, DC, since 2015. The discussion also revolved around the alternative arrangements and policy leaders in the event of the US retrenchment from international climate governance. Ms Groff argued that, given the gravity of climate risks and their economic consequences, alternative centres like the BRICS and the European Union must fill the void left by US policies on the environment and climate finance.
Ms Groff was felicitated by Capt. Alok Bansal, Executive Vice President, India Foundation.
