Collective action is the key to drive urgency in building climate resilience

The author advocates for collective action across governmental, corporate, and nonprofit sectors to address climate challenges, asserting that no single entity can tackle issues like global warming and resource scarcity alone. A central case study is the Yamuna River Basin Collective Action, an initiative by HCLFoundation that has rejuvenated over 140 water structures and harvested over 34 billion litres of water in five years to combat pollution and water scarcity in India.

• Collective action is presented as the only viable method for addressing vast environmental challenges, as no single governmental, corporate, or nonprofit entity can solve issues such as global warming or resource scarcity independently.
• The global water crisis is highlighted as a critical area for collective action, with United Nations projections indicating that water demand will exceed supply by 40% by 2030.
• The Yamuna River Basin in India faces severe ecological decline; HCLTech's analysis with local government agencies found that 99% of the basin's natural springs in the lower Himalayas have been lost, while 80% of Delhi's waste enters the river.
• The Yamuna River Basin Collective Action, led by HCLFoundation and involving nonprofits, government agencies, and private partners, has achieved measurable results over five years, including the rejuvenation of over 140 water structures, the harvesting of over 34 billion litres of water, and the planting of more than 600,000 native trees.

APA

Vijayakumar, C. (2025). Collective action is the key to drive urgency in building climate resilience. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/collective-action-is-key-to-climate-resilience/

Chicago

Vijayakumar, C. Collective action is the key to drive urgency in building climate resilience. World Economic Forum, 2025. https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/collective-action-is-key-to-climate-resilience/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Vijayakumar |first1=C. |title=Collective action is the key to drive urgency in building climate resilience |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=19 January 2025 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/collective-action-is-key-to-climate-resilience/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{vijayakumar2025collective, author = {Vijayakumar, C.}, title = {{Collective action is the key to drive urgency in building climate resilience}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2025}, month = jan, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/collective-action-is-key-to-climate-resilience/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }