This paper describes key evidence and strategic considerations for building climate resilience in South Asia. Current public policy responses are fragmented and do not address the scale, complexity or the uncertainty of current and future climate change vulnerability in the region. New approaches are needed to tackle the ‘root causes’ of vulnerability and build resilience to climate and other risks. Conventional ‘science-speaks-to-policy’ approaches cannot address current evidence gaps. We therefore propose deliberative approaches for translating evidence into knowledge, for governance and decision making, as the best way to build long-term climate resilience. This involves a diversity of stakeholders, especially the climate-vulnerable poor.