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While countries have made strides in securing funds for loss and damage, finance for climate adaptation has lagged, leaving regions on the front lines underprepared.
At the United Nations Climate Conference, COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Devex spoke with several leaders about ways to increase climate adaptation finance in the face of escalating climate impacts.
In a special episode of our This Week in Global Development podcast, Kulthoum Omari-Motsumi, a special adviser to the Africa Adaptation Initiative; Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation; and Tagaloa Cooper, director of the climate change resilience program at SPREP, emphasized the urgent need for accessible and rapid adaptation financing to safeguard vulnerable regions.
Since the launch of the African Adaptation Initiative in 2015, financing for adaptation has not kept pace with needs, said Omari-Motsumi.
African nations face barriers in securing adaptation funds. Omari-Motsumi pointed to bureaucratic delays and complex processes in funding bodies such as the Green Climate Fund, or GFC, which make it challenging for lower-income countries to access resources promptly.
Verkooijen called for a significant shift in climate finance strategy, emphasizing the need to move beyond mitigation alone and prioritize resilience.
He highlighted how adaptation finance must bolster economies to withstand escalating climate impacts, particularly as political dynamics shift globally.
Verkooijen expresses concern over the implications of the recent U.S. presidential election, noting that a potential U.S. withdrawal from international climate agreements could strain global commitments, and argued that reframing the conversation to focus on resilience, jobs, and economic growth might foster broader support for adaptation efforts.
“In this day and age, particularly against this sort of geo-economic reality, I think the adaptation agenda, given that we're way off track on the mitigation side, given that the impacts are already being felt across the globe, we now have to massively double down on adaptation,” he said. “And I think in Baku, we need to send that signal that we're ready to do so.”
Cooper brought another urgent perspective from the front lines in the Pacific.
For these island nations, the stakes are high, as they face immediate existential threats from climate impacts including rising sea levels, extreme weather, and saltwater intrusion into freshwater sources. Cooper advocated for a shift toward grant-based funding and nature-based solutions, such as mangrove restoration, over hard infrastructure like sea walls.
She also highlighted the need for faster, simplified funding mechanisms, noting that smaller nations lack the resources to navigate complex funding applications.