Hundreds of billions of dollars are needed each year to help vulnerable developing countries adapt to the increasing threat from the effects of climate change. A new report from the UN environmental program UNEP, states that funding to developing countries has decreased, local initiatives are overlooked, a lot of the money never reach the affected countries and that funding for gender and social inclusion is in adequate.
– A continued development in this direction risks putting many more lives in danger, and millions of people in the global south will be driven into extreme poverty, says Georgia Savvidou, Chalmers, one of the report's main authors.
The recently published UN Adaptation Gap Report (link) has examined the development of support to developing countries for measures to reduce the effects of climate change in affected countries. The countries that are hardest hit by effects such as extreme floods, fires and hurricanes are often developing countries or smaller island nations, which bear a very small part of the responsibility for climate change. In total, the report estimates that it will require between 215 and 387 billion US dollars per year during the current decade for developing countries to be able to adapt to the changing climate. The support that comes from richer countries is an important part of climate adaptation, and is also the focus for the UNEP report.
- The commitments that the developed countries have made so far are at $21 US billion, drastically below the costs and needs that the developing countries have expressed, says Georgia Savvidou.
Four major gaps in climate-adaptation financing:
A decrease in financing: At the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in 2021, developed countries pledged to double their adaptation finance contribution from 2019 to 2025, from $19 billion to $38 billion annually. There was an increase in between 2018 and 2020, but then funding decreased by 15 percent between 2020 and 2021, a step in the wrong direction if the 2025 goal is to be reached.
The funding does not go to local initiatives: Involving and financing local initiatives often has a good effect when it comes to climate adaptation measures. It is where you experience the effects of climate change and at the same time where commitment and innovative sustainable solutions are created.
- Our analysis shows that less than 17% of the total international public adaptation funding has been allocated to projects with a specific focus on local communities. It is a small increase compared to before, but does not meet the need to increase financial support to local communities.
The report states that only two-thirds of the funding reaches the recipient country. The reasons why the balance has not reached the developing countries may be projects that have been delayed or a lack of capacity.
Finally, according to the report, gender and social inclusion remains to be only weakly included in adaptation finance. Only a small fraction, 2 per cent of funding was assessed as gender responsive, aiming to address root causes of gender inequality. Considering gender and social inclusion aspects in adaptation finance is crucial, as projects that are gender-responsive are found to be more efficient and effective in achieving their objectives.
In order for climate adaptation financing to be effective and for climate change not to affect vulnerable developing countries too much, it is necessary to identify and solve the existing gaps.
- The negotiations at the upcoming climate summit, COP28 in the United Arab Emirates, represent an opportunity for world leaders to take action to address these gaps. Neglecting them would exacerbate losses and damage in the affected countries.
More info:
Download the UNEP Adaptation Gap Report 2023: Underfinanced. Underprepared
About the report in media:
Resuters has written an article about the report, where Georgia Savvidou och UN Secretary Genera Antonio Guterres is quoted: Reuters: Climate adaptation funding gap 50% higher than estimated, UN says.
Georgia Savvidou and colleague Nella Canales writes about the report in a Carbon Brief guest post: Three major gaps in climate-adaptation finance for developing countries
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- Doctoral Student, Energy Technology, Space, Earth and Environment