The financing need for adaptation to climate change in low- and middle-income countries is at least 50% higher than previously estimated. To plug that gap, climate-vulnerable countries are calling for more easily accessible public financing and more investment from the private sector.
The adaptation finance needs of vulnerable countries now stand at $194 billion to $366 billion per year, according to the United Nations Environment Programme’s latest Adaptation Gap Report.
Yet between 2016 and 2021, adaptation finance averaged $19 billion per year, or just 25% of overall climate finance, according to a 2023 report on adaptation finance from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Despite increasing needs, public adaptation finance has declined since 2020, in contrast to mitigation finance which increased over the same period.