UN REPORT SAYS TRIPLED ADAPTATION FINANCE WOULD LEAVE NEEDS UNMET

The United Nations Environment Programme has warned that tripling adaptation finance for developing countries by 2035, as pledged at COP30, would still leave more than 70% of their needs unmet. The finding comes from UNEP's Adaptation Gap Report 2026. The report estimates developing countries will need around $305 billion a year by 2035, or roughly $420 billion once future inflation is included. Depending on how governments interpret the COP30 pledge, tripling finance could deliver only $85-120 billion a year, meaning developing nations would receive at most 29% of what they need.

Rich countries provided about $30 billion in adaptation finance to developing countries in 2024, only slightly more than in previous years, the report found. The Adaptation Lead at Climate Action Network International said "the money is there, but the political will to provide it isn't," adding that floods, droughts and heatwaves will not wait for governments to act. Every year of delay costs more lives and homes, the Adaptation Lead said. The report said the funding shortfall also extends to loss and damage caused by climate change, separate from adaptation funding.

The report said COP31 should shift its focus from negotiating finance targets to meeting developing countries' actual needs. Climate Action Network International called on governments to agree a plan to deliver at least $120 billion a year in adaptation finance well before 2035, through new public, grant-based funding reaching the communities most at risk. It said rich governments must also set out how they will close the remaining gap. The Adaptation Lead said "adaptation is not charity. It is a legal and moral obligation."