Wealthy Nations Cut Climate Adaptation Aid, Even as Need Grows

A new report from the United Nations has found that rich countries have decreased the amount of funding they committed to helping developing countries cope with the effects of climate change, even as the need for that spending has grown. In 2021, aid for climate adaptation fell to U.S.$21 billion, a drop of 15% from 2020. This is despite the fact that developing countries will need between U.S.$215 billion and U.S.$387 billion annually this decade to protect against climate shocks.

The report also found that wealthy countries have fallen short of their commitments to disburse climate adaptation aid. Only two-thirds of the adaptation aid that wealthy nations promised from 2017 to 2021 has actually been disbursed. The report calls on developed countries to meet their pledges to double adaptation funds and to levy a windfall tax on fossil fuel companies to compensate for climate losses.

The report comes as the world enters the last quarter of the hottest year on record. The average global temperature has already exceeded 1.5C over pre-industrial levels on a third of days in 2023.

The UNEP report also sets the stage for the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), a major United Nations climate summit to be held in Dubai later this month, where assistance to developing countries will be a top agenda item.