UNEP: Adaptation pledge falls short of developing nations’ needs

The UN Environment Programme estimates developing countries will need about $305 billion a year for climate adaptation by 2035, or roughly $420 billion when future inflation is included. Even if the COP30 pledge to triple adaptation finance is met, projected annual funding would cover only about 20% to 29% of those needs, according to UNEP’s 2026 Adaptation Gap Report. The report puts the potential annual finance total at $85 billion to $120 billion by 2035, depending on how governments interpret the pledge. That range would leave more than 70% of estimated needs unmet. The report’s figures describe international public adaptation finance and are estimates, not confirmed future contributions. Developed countries provided between $28.2 billion and $31.7 billion in international public adaptation finance in 2024, about $1 billion more than in 2023, UNEP says. The report’s current-price estimate of developing countries’ annual needs is slightly below last year’s range of $310 billion to $365 billion. UNEP attributes the change partly to greater reliance on countries’ own cost assessments in national climate plans. The COP30 decision to triple finance did not specify a baseline...