Progress on implementing and financing adaptation will be key at the forthcoming UN Cop 30 climate summit, the event's president, Andre Correa do Lago said today. Adaptation refers to adjusting to the effects of climate change where possible.
"Cop 30 must be the Cop of adaptation," do Lago said. Cop 30 is scheduled for 10-21 November, and a leaders' summit will take place on 6-7 November, both in Belem, Brazil.
Do Lago urged "countries and institutions to increase the quantity and quality of adaptation finance". Adaptation finance accounts for less than a third of total climate finance, he added. Despite some progress, a significant gap remains between adaptation needs and current finance flows.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) put the gap at $187bn-359bn in November 2024. Developed countries agreed at Cop 26 in 2021 to at least double finance for adaptation for developing nations by 2025, from 2019 levels. This would put a 2025 target at roughly $38bn, according to UNEP.
"Adaptation is as essential to safeguarding economies as it is to protecting lives," do Lago said. He noted the substantial impact that extreme weather events, worsened by climate change, have on developing countries' economies.
"Domestic resources that could be directed to low-carbon, climate-resilient transitions are increasingly consumed by emergency responses," he added.
Mitigation — cutting emissions — tends to absorb the bulk of climate finance flows. Mitigation projects, such as renewable energy facilities, often have the incentive of a revenue stream, but this is typically not the case for adaptation. World Bank estimates show that "robust adaptation measures can yield up to four times their cost in economic benefits", do Lago said.
Mitigation and adaptation should have the same priority, Cop 30 chief executive Ana Toni said today.
Adaptation is a recurring theme at Cop summits. This year countries will discuss and aim to resolve several outstanding issues, including finance and finalising indicators for tracking adaptation action and support.
