Extreme weather makes climate ‘adaptation gap’ more urgent, says UN

WASHINGTON – Global finance for climate adaptation measures worldwide is so minimal that doubling its current rate would reduce the sum of what is needed by only 5 per cent to 10 per cent, according to a new analysis by the UN Environment Programme.

Rising greenhouse gas emissions are fuelling more extreme weather around the world, increasing the need for funding to insulate communities from the impacts.

Researchers found an annual gap of between US$194 billion (S$265 billion) and US$366 billion (S$499 billion) for projects that could help society adapt to climate change. That is 50 per cent higher than previous estimates and 10 to 18 times higher than the current level of global public finance, which was US$21 billion for 2021.

The number of new projects funded through the UN climate process – roughly 300 to 450 a year – levelled off in the last decade after consistent prior growth since 2007. 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asked governments to tax “the windfall profits” of fossil fuel companies and direct some of the proceeds to people suffering “loss and damage” from climate impacts. “Fossil fuel barons and their enablers have helped create this mess; they must support those suffering as a result,” he said.  

For the first time, the annual report examines loss and damage as a function of failure to adapt.

For years, developing countries have pushed rich countries to negotiate for loss and damage funding at annual climate talks. It took a growing global recognition that climate change has arrived – and a historic flood tragedy in Pakistan in the summer of 2022 – for developed countries to agree broadly to establish a fund.

When diplomats resume their meetings in Dubai at the end of November,

they are expected to face hard questions

around fleshing out the programme.

Among the thorny issues on the docket are who funds the programme, what institution oversees it and how to cope with the kinds of damage that resist quantification, such as loss of life, territory, Indigenous knowledge and biodiversity.

“Lack of conceptual clarity is a clear barrier to making political and operational progress on loss and damage,” the report states. 

The report’s authors implore developed countries to increase the flow of adaptation financing to developing countries that are suffering some of the worst impacts of climate change despite contributing the least to the problem.

At the 2021 climate talks in Glasgow, rich countries pledged to double their adaptation outlays to US$40 billion by 2025, a figure separate from evolving loss and damage debates.

Beyond wealthy countries funding adaptation projects, the report identifies other sources that include developing country direct spending, large companies and other private sector sources and migrants’ remittances home.

The researchers also suggest novel pathways to raise funds when conventional sources fall short, including levying fees on shipping and aviation, debt relief, taxes and debt swaps.

The report throws weight behind pushes to reorganise the global multilateral financial system, such as the Bridgetown Initiative put forward by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, that would make it easier for developing nations to access money for disaster recovery and adaptation. 

“Adaptation” includes a wide range of activities that countries may undertake to reduce the effects of extreme heat waves, more intense storms, rising sea levels, floods, drought and other ravages worsened by greenhouse gas pollution.

Funding for adaptation is small compared with commitments to prevent emissions – just US$49 billion in direct finance versus US$586 billion for mitigation, the Climate Policy Initiative says. 

Protective measures save lives and money – and they’re also a powerful tool to fight economic and social inequality.

A US$16 billion rise in adaptation funding for agriculture would save 78 million people from starvation or hunger. Billion-dollar investments in coastal flood protection tend to save about US$14 billion in prevented damage. BLOOMBERG