A new report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has shown that developed countries are not on course to meet the 2025 target of doubling adaptation finance for vulnerable countries.
Adaptation finance is money provided to help countries adjust to the effects of climate change that are already happening or expected to happen.
At COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, countries agreed that developed nations should collectively double adaptation finance for developing countries from 2019 levels of $18.8 billion to $40 billion annually by 2025.
However, progress has fallen far short of needs. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in its Adaptation Gap Report, estimates that developing countries could require between $310 billion and $365 billion annually by 2035 for climate adaptation — far above the current $40 billion annual target to double adaptation finance from 2019 levels.
UNEP warned that adaptation needs are now 12 to 14 times higher than current funding flows. It added that if existing trends continue, the Glasgow commitment to double adaptation finance by 2025 would likely not be achieved.
António Guterres, United Nations secretary-general, had appealed to developed countries to honour their $40 billion adaptation finance pledge to developing nations before the end of 2025.
However, in the report released on Thursday, OECD said adaptation finance reached $34.7 billion in 2024, up slightly from $33.6 billion in 2023. Developed countries would still need to provide an additional $5.8 billion in 2025 to meet the target of doubling adaptation finance from 2019 levels.
