Funding for climate change adaptation is far from enough, UN warns

Promises from rich countries to help poorer ones adapt to climate change are not increasing on the scale needed to meet the funding gaps leaving the world’s most vulnerable people at risk, a United Nations report has warned.

Debris on a road in Acapulco, Mexico, after hurricane Otis hit on 26 October, 2023. Extreme weather, like hurricanes and droughts, are increasing climate change adaptation needs. © Felix Marquez/AP

In order to reduce their greenhouse emissions and adapt to the effects of rising temperatures and sea levels, developing countries need 10 to 18 times more international funding than has been promised, the UN Environment Program (UNEP) said in its 2023 adaptation gap report, published Thursday.

Annual financing from richer countries to help poorer countries mitigate and adapt to climate change dropped 15 percent in 2021, and “adaptation planning and implementation appear to be plateauing”, the report said.

Funding is easier to mobilise for renewable energy projects than for adaptation, even as more frequent extreme weather around the world is increasing adaptation needs.

Needs outweigh promises

In 2009, developed countries pledged $100 billion (93.9 billion euros) a year, though financing flows reached only $25 billion between 2017-2021, according to UNEP.

The report projects the annual cost of adaptation to be between $215-387 billion this decade, leaving a funding gap of $194-366 billion per year

"We really need ambitious adaptation action this decade, and if not, we will increase losses and damage," said Georgia Savvidou, a researcher at Chalmers University of Technology and a co-author of the UNEP report.

Mobilising funding from developed countries to developing countries is a key part of the upcoming Cop28 climate conference in Dubai.

Financing as investment for better future

At climate talks in 2021, developed countries pledged to double adaptation funds, and in a statement, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged them to stick to their promises.

In laying out solutions, UNEP urged richer countries to see funding as an investment. Every $1 billion spent on tackling coastal flooding, for example, could help avoid $14 billion in economic damage.

"Action to protect people and nature is more pressing than ever," Guterres said. "Yet as needs rise, action is stalling."