Capacity Gaps and Financing Constraints Weaken Bhutan’s Climate Adaptation in Water Management
RENUKA RAI | Thimphu
While Bhutan has earned international recognition for its climate commitments, a recent performance audit by the Royal Audit Authority (RAA) reveals that deep-seated financing and institutional capacity challenges continue to undermine the country’s ability to adapt its water resources management systems to climate change.
The RAA found that climate adaptation efforts in the water sector remain heavily dependent on financial contributions from water users themselves.
Rather than incentivising sustainable practices or climate-resilient investments, communities are often expected to contribute labour or cash to maintain drinking water and irrigation schemes.
This approach, the audit notes, places a disproportionate burden on rural households and fails to encourage long-term adaptation measures that could strengthen water security.
Equally concerning is the lack of technical support for communities and individuals who show initiative in addressing climate risks.
The audit observed that local residents and private individuals interested in undertaking water management or climate adaptation projects often receive little guidance, encouragement, or follow-up from government agencies.
Without consistent technical backstopping or positive reinforcement, many promising local initiatives fail to progress beyond initial stages.
Private sector participation in climate adaptation remains limited. Most adaptation actions related to water resources are undertaken by government agencies or a small number of civil society organisations.
Businesses, entrepreneurs, and financial institutions have played only a marginal role, largely due to the absence of incentives, risk-sharing mechanisms, or supportive policy frameworks.
The audit warns that without market-based incentives, communities and the private sector are unlikely to invest in long-term adaptation measures that go beyond minimum compliance.
This situation leaves the government bearing the full financial burden of adaptation at a time when resources are already stretched.
With Bhutan’s graduation from Least Developed Country status reducing access to concessional climate finance, the lack of diversified funding sources poses a serious risk to the sustainability of adaptation efforts in the water sector.
Beyond financing, the RAA highlights significant institutional capacity gaps across agencies responsible for water resources management and climate action.
Although the Climate Change Policy mandates the Royal Government to ensure adequate means of implementation through finance, technology, capacity building, research, and awareness, these requirements have not been fully met in practice.
The National Center for Hydrology and Meteorology, Bhutan’s nodal agency for climate and hydro-meteorological services, plays a critical role in generating data that underpins climate risk assessment and adaptation planning.
However, the audit found that the centre faces persistent challenges in retaining experienced professionals with specialised expertise in meteorology, hydrology, atmospheric science, and cryosphere studies.
Despite having a structured competency framework, the centre lacks sufficient in-house capacity to interpret climate model outputs, analyse high-resolution satellite imagery, and produce long-term climate forecasts for climate-sensitive sectors.
As a result, Bhutan continues to rely heavily on external experts for climate modelling and projections.
The audit cautions that this dependence limits national ownership of climate knowledge and weakens Bhutan’s ability to independently plan for future climate risks.
Similar challenges were identified at the Department of Environment and Climate Change, which serves as the central coordinating body for climate policy and adaptation planning.
The Climate Change Division, responsible for implementing the National Adaptation Plan and coordinating cross-sectoral climate actions, is staffed largely by officers with limited experience.
High staff turnover and weak knowledge transfer mechanisms have resulted in a loss of institutional memory and limited succession planning.
According to the RAA, these capacity constraints affect the department’s ability to conduct robust climate risk assessments, prepare cost-effective project proposals, and track progress on Bhutan’s international climate commitments.
Weak capacity in monitoring and reporting also raises concerns about delays in implementing adaptation actions and the risk of underachievement of national targets.
The Department of Water, mandated to ensure sustainable and equitable water resources management, faces some of the most acute human resource shortages.
The RAA found that the department operates with significantly fewer staff than approved, with critical gaps in technical expertise.
The absence of geologists has constrained detailed assessments of aquifers and underground water systems, while shortages of civil and water engineers have limited the department’s capacity to design and oversee resilient water infrastructure.
Although the department is implementing important initiatives such as watershed and spring shed management, river basin planning, and payment for ecosystem services schemes, the audit notes that core regulatory and facilitation functions remain underdeveloped due to limited manpower.
This has hindered the development of integrated and climate-resilient water management practices across the country.
The RAA concludes that these interlinked challenges weak incentives, limited private sector engagement, and insufficient institutional capacity pose a serious threat to Bhutan’s long-term water security.
It finally warns that addressing these gaps is essential if the country is to build resilience, protect livelihoods, and ensure sustainable access to water in an increasingly uncertain climate future.
