Gap in funding leaves vulnerable countries exposed to climate change impact | DW News

With human-induced global heating blamed for more severe heatwaves, storms and floods in recent months, a report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) highlights an urgent need to fund adaptation measures that build resilience to climate extremes. The research points out that critical investment actually declined in 2021, with the number of new adaptation projects stagnating for a decade as climate impacts worsen. While the UNEP report partly attributes this retreat to external circumstances such as the COVID pandemic and the economic impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the adaptation finance gap has nonetheless grown to between $194 billion (€183 billion) and $366 billion a year. Meanwhile, the adaptation finance needs of climate vulnerable developing countries are 10-18 times above what they are currently receiving, notes “Adaptation Gap Report 2023: Underfinanced. Underprepared”. This adaptation gap is 50% greater than assumed before the study research began.