UN reports $277bn shortfall for climate adaptation — CBC

Developing countries need $305 billion annually to adapt to the effects of climate change, but funding from developed countries amounted to only $28.2 billion in 2024. The funding gap is therefore estimated at about $277 billion, according to a report by the UN Environment Programme.

Funding increased by only $1 billion

As CBC reports, adaptation funding provided by developed countries increased by $1 billion in 2024. At the same time, this amount remains only a small fraction of the needs of countries suffering from increasingly severe heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and floods.

The 2026 UN Adaptation Gap Report states that countries must accelerate adaptation measures, including ecosystem restoration and infrastructure strengthening. The UN forecasts that global temperatures may exceed the critical threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius in the coming years.

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Needs will grow through 2035

Participants in climate negotiations scheduled to take place in Turkey from November 9 to 20 will consider the reasons for falling behind the commitment adopted at COP29 in Baku. It envisaged providing developing countries with $300 billion in climate finance annually.

The report also recalled an agreement reached at climate negotiations in Brazil last year to triple adaptation funding and bring it to $120 billion per year by 2035. However, even at that level of funding, the gap will exceed two-thirds of the needs, which the UN estimates will reach $420 billion annually by 2035.

At the same time, financing through multilateral development banks and financial flows among developing countries more than doubled, from $3.8 billion in 2019 to $9.6 billion in 2024.