Climate action: ‘Take steps to

close the adaptation gap, now’

Unsplash/Hassan Afridhi

As climate is changing, adaptation to the consequences is a top priority globally.

Fac ebook T wi tter Print Email

2 November 2023Climate and Environment

Instead of accelerating to meet the challenge of rising emissions,

progress on climate adaptation is slowing across the board, a new report
published on Thursday by the UN’s environment agency finds.
The Adaptation Gap Report 2023 issued by the UN Environment Programme
(UNEP), says the world is underprepared, under invested and lacking the
necessary planning, leaving us all exposed. It warns that instead of speeding
up, progress on adapting to climate change is stalling.
Tweet URL

The slowdown extends to finance, planning and implementation, says UNEP,

with massive implications for loss and damage, particularly for the most
vulnerable.

Financial lag
“Today’s report shows the gap in adaptation funding is the highest ever. The
world must take action to close the adaptation gap and deliver climate
justice,” said the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, commenting on the
report’s findings.

The updated adaptation costs for developing countries are estimated at $215
billion to $387 billion annually this decade, reflecting higher estimates than
previous studies which are bound to increase significantly by 2050.

And the needs of developing countries are 10-18 times higher than the flow of
public financing – over 50 per cent higher than the previous estimated range.

Pledges peter out

Despite pledges made at COP26 in Glasgow to double adaptation finance
support to around $40 billion per year by 2025, public multilateral and bilateral
adaptation finance flows to developing countries declined by 15 per cent to
around $21 billion in 2021.

Concurrently, the adaptation finance gap is now estimated to be $194-366

billion per year.

Costs will only rise

The report cites a recent study that indicates the 55 most climate-vulnerable
economies alone have already experienced loss and damage valued at more
than $500 billion in the last two decades.
© UNICEF/Howard Elwyn-Jones

In Glasgow, Scotland, people take part in a demonstration for climate action, led by
youth climate activists and organized on the sidelines of the 2021 UN Climate Change
Conference (COP26).

Costs are likely to rise steeply in the coming decades, particularly in the
absence of forceful mitigation and adaptation.

The new loss and damage fund will be an important instrument to mobilize
resources, but issues remain, as the fund will need to move towards more
innovative financing mechanisms to reach the necessary scale of investment.

The UN chief thinks one source could come in tax revenue from the big emitters
and polluters.

“Fossil fuel barons and their enablers have helped create this mess; they must
support those suffering as a result,” he said in his message, calling on
governments to tax the “windfall profits of the fossil fuel industry”, and to devote
some of those funds to countries suffering loss and damage.

Mitigate now to minimize future costs

Authors of the report advocate for an ambitious adaptation: it can enhance
resilience, which is particularly important for low-income countries and
disadvantaged groups, including women.

For example, every $1 billion invested in adaptation against coastal flooding

leads to a US $14 billion reduction in economic damages, while $16 billion per
year invested in agriculture could help an astonishing 78 million people avoid
starvation or chronic hunger due to climate impacts.

Finding innovative ways

The UNEP report identifies ways to increase financing, including through
domestic expenditure and international and private sector finance.

UNFCCC/Kiara Worth
Youth activists protest at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh demanding leaders to address
ending the use of fossil fuels.

Additional avenues include remittances, increasing and tailoring finance to

Small and Medium Enterprises, shifting finance flows towards low-carbon and
climate resilient development pathways, and a reform of the global financial
architecture.

“Multilateral Development Banks should also allocate at least fifty percent of

climate finance to adaptation and change their business models to mobilize far
more private finance to protect communities from climate extremes,” expanded
this point the UN chief.

COP28 must address ‘adaptation emergency’

“We need bold action to respond to escalating loss and damage that results
from climate extremes”, said the UN chief.

“All parties must operationalize the Loss and Damage Fund at COP28 this year.
And we need new and early pledges to get the fund started on a strong footing”.

“We are in an adaptation emergency. We must act like it. And take steps to
close the adaptation gap, now,” the UN Secretary-General said.

Climate action: ‘Take steps to

close the adaptation gap, now’
Unsplash/Hassan Afridhi

As climate is changing, adaptation to the consequences is a top priority globally.

Fac ebook T wi tter Print Email

2 November 2023Climate and Environment

Instead of accelerating to meet the challenge of rising emissions,

progress on climate adaptation is slowing across the board, a new report
published on Thursday by the UN’s environment agency finds.
The Adaptation Gap Report 2023 issued by the UN Environment Programme
(UNEP), says the world is underprepared, under invested and lacking the
necessary planning, leaving us all exposed. It warns that instead of speeding
up, progress on adapting to climate change is stalling.

Tweet URL
The slowdown extends to finance, planning and implementation, says UNEP,
with massive implications for loss and damage, particularly for the most
vulnerable.

Financial lag
“Today’s report shows the gap in adaptation funding is the highest ever. The
world must take action to close the adaptation gap and deliver climate
justice,” said the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, commenting on the
report’s findings.

The updated adaptation costs for developing countries are estimated at $215
billion to $387 billion annually this decade, reflecting higher estimates than
previous studies which are bound to increase significantly by 2050.

And the needs of developing countries are 10-18 times higher than the flow of
public financing – over 50 per cent higher than the previous estimated range.

Pledges peter out

Despite pledges made at COP26 in Glasgow to double adaptation finance
support to around $40 billion per year by 2025, public multilateral and bilateral
adaptation finance flows to developing countries declined by 15 per cent to
around $21 billion in 2021.

Concurrently, the adaptation finance gap is now estimated to be $194-366

billion per year.

Costs will only rise

The report cites a recent study that indicates the 55 most climate-vulnerable
economies alone have already experienced loss and damage valued at more
than $500 billion in the last two decades.
© UNICEF/Howard Elwyn-Jones

In Glasgow, Scotland, people take part in a demonstration for climate action, led by
youth climate activists and organized on the sidelines of the 2021 UN Climate Change
Conference (COP26).

Costs are likely to rise steeply in the coming decades, particularly in the
absence of forceful mitigation and adaptation.

The new loss and damage fund will be an important instrument to mobilize
resources, but issues remain, as the fund will need to move towards more
innovative financing mechanisms to reach the necessary scale of investment.

The UN chief thinks one source could come in tax revenue from the big emitters
and polluters.

“Fossil fuel barons and their enablers have helped create this mess; they must
support those suffering as a result,” he said in his message, calling on
governments to tax the “windfall profits of the fossil fuel industry”, and to devote
some of those funds to countries suffering loss and damage.

Mitigate now to minimize future costs

Authors of the report advocate for an ambitious adaptation: it can enhance
resilience, which is particularly important for low-income countries and
disadvantaged groups, including women.

For example, every $1 billion invested in adaptation against coastal flooding

leads to a US $14 billion reduction in economic damages, while $16 billion per
year invested in agriculture could help an astonishing 78 million people avoid
starvation or chronic hunger due to climate impacts.

Finding innovative ways

The UNEP report identifies ways to increase financing, including through
domestic expenditure and international and private sector finance.

UNFCCC/Kiara Worth
Youth activists protest at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh demanding leaders to address
ending the use of fossil fuels.

Additional avenues include remittances, increasing and tailoring finance to

Small and Medium Enterprises, shifting finance flows towards low-carbon and
climate resilient development pathways, and a reform of the global financial
architecture.

“Multilateral Development Banks should also allocate at least fifty percent of

climate finance to adaptation and change their business models to mobilize far
more private finance to protect communities from climate extremes,” expanded
this point the UN chief.

COP28 must address ‘adaptation emergency’

“We need bold action to respond to escalating loss and damage that results
from climate extremes”, said the UN chief.

“All parties must operationalize the Loss and Damage Fund at COP28 this year.
And we need new and early pledges to get the fund started on a strong footing”.

“We are in an adaptation emergency. We must act like it. And take steps to
close the adaptation gap, now,” the UN Secretary-General said.