**7. Discussion**

Our analysis from the stakeholder consultations provides support that various stakeholder groups require capacity building for CCA and climate resilient development outcomes. Individual industries in both states appear to have higher capacity with regard to CCA, nevertheless, for the overall success of CCA, there is a need to simultaneously develop the capacities of decision makers at the scale of individual IPs as well as state level organizations. In particular, officials working in various agencies such the environment agency, the district planning agencies, the local municipalities require assistance to improve resilience of industries for managing climate change impacts. There is an urgent need to develop capacity of decision makers to identify solutions based on the impending climate impacts, with emphasis on local conditions, for example, capacity of officials could be developed in such a manner that they identify and implement local interventions, such as land zoning, storm water management, and developing building codes.

The ability of local institutions and functionaries to intervene is a critical component in moderating the harmful effects of climatic extremes [4, 26]. At the local scale, in IPs, local municipalities need capacity building to identify key climate related hazards, the spatial and temporal pattern of these hazards, the susceptibility, and the resilience of IPs, climate change adaptation measures, and locally viable climate resilient strategies need to be developed. Likewise, the industry stakeholder group requires substantial training for developing climate resilient measures and climate proofing industries to extreme climatic events. For example, industries could identify alternate sources of supplies and markets for products. Innovations in identifying new markets could lead to numerous new opportunities and spinoffs provided by CCA. Similarly, factoring the long-term risks of C-C and the early adoption of C-C adaptation measures could result in resilient and profitable industrial landscape. An interesting finding from the stakeholder analysis was the higher capacity with regard to CCA among certain industries, such as the ICT (Information and Communication Technologies). This could be explained by the global nature of this industry, hence it is better prepared to deal with extreme climatic events, both in terms of financing as well as the knowledge base.

Better planning for mainstreaming of climate change adaptation into plans of the government would be important. National and state level plans for climate change adaptation in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana could provide overall policy and goals to develop climate resilient pathways. Some of these measures include providing policy framework to guide decisions at the state level; providing legal framework; directing actions in key sectors. Similarly, multi-sectoral and multispatial planning across sectors such as environment, agriculture, industries, urban, irrigation, and other sectors are crucial for CCA. The stakeholder analysis identified specific needs with regard to development of master plans, including climate resilient measures at inception stage of project, mock drills, risk analysis for C-C, development of early warning systems for floods, cyclones, heat waves, and droughts in both states. A key aspect lies in the dissemination of the CCA planning strategies, it is critical that ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) are leveraged by officials in both states to ensure effective outcomes. A reassuring finding of the stakeholder analysis was the existing capacity among various officials, especially among engineers, with regard to engineering and infrastructure. However, specific capacity development with regard to mainstreaming climate change adaptation into their existing capacities would enhance CCA outcomes [27]. In line with Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) of the Paris Agreement, development of green infrastructure, climate resilient infrastructure and nature based solutions to address climate change would lead to win-win outcomes.

During the stakeholder consultations a frequently occurring need was regarding capacity to leverage financial resources to meet the demands of CCA. Specific gaps in skills included, sustainable financing, green financing, and green budgeting. In this regard, specific training to attract funding from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) would be important [28]. Specific training programs garnered towards financial incentives, including taxes and subsidies; insurance, including weather based insurance schemes; creation of catastrophe bonds; payments for ecosystem service; differential water tariffs; microfinance; and disaster contingency funds were identified during the analysis. Financing that includes diversity of portfolios, such as public and private funding mechanisms; debt and equity for climate financing; export credits and foreign direct invests for climate change adaptation could be important information to be included in capacity development for CCA [29].
