The climate symposium, hosted by IPE Global and ESRI India on June 9, 2025, brought together climate leaders from government, international organisations, CSOs, and innovators from various countries in the Global South. The welcome remarks by Ashwajit Singh, Managing Director, IPE Global, and context-setting addresses by Abinash Mohanty, Sector Head-Climate Change and Sustainability, IPE Global, and Agendra Kumar-MD-Esri India, who underscored the urgent need for climate risk management as extreme weather events intensify across the global South and how this isn’t just a national concern. It is a pan-Global South emergency. A landmark moment was the release of the issue note “Weathering the Storm – Managing Monsoons in a Warming Climate”, which provides critical information on heat stress and erratic and incessant rainfall scenarios for 2030-40. The symposium also began with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between IPE Global and the African Centre of Meteorological Application for Development (ACMAD), marking a step towards unified climate action in the Global South and fostering solidarity.
M.K. Padma Kumar is involved in developing strategies and managing operations for the IPE Global Group.
He has over 25 years of experience in the development sector, working in civil society organisations and international development agencies like DANIDA and DFID. As the Head of State Partnerships at the DFID India, he was responsible for developing partnerships, programme design, management and strategic oversight of all programmes implemented in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha. He has managed various development programmes. His expertise lies in driving operational, financial and programmatic transformations. Before DFID, he was associated with Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), Help Age and World Wildlife Fund.
He holds a Master’s degree in Business Management with specialisation in Human Resource Management and Finance. He is extensively trained in Project Cycle Management, Grant Management, Performance Management, Leadership Skills and Change Management.
