Developing countries get just 10 cents for every dollar needed to adapt to climate change, UN warns

Developing countries need $305 billion a year to adapt to climate change and protect themselves from its effects. Climate change is mainly caused by the burning of fossil fuels. But in 2024, only between $28.2 billion and $31.7 billion was paid out for climate adaptation measures, according to a report by the UN Environment Programme (Unep).

“Already suffering”

The goal of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees compared with pre-industrial levels has already been missed, meaning more extreme weather is to be expected. The money is needed to secure housing, infrastructure, food and water supplies, and warning systems.

The truth is that we need more and more money, and the more we postpone emission reductions, the more expensive it will be, says Unep Director-General Inger Andersen at a press conference.

The goal is to keep the period above 1.5 degrees as short as possible and then bring temperatures back below that level.

But even if we succeed, we will face more intense climate impacts. Many people around the world are already suffering from impacts such as heatwaves, wildfires, storms, crop failures and floods.

At last year’s climate summit, rich countries pledged $40 billion from 2025, with that figure set to triple over ten years. That would not even cover a third of what is needed, and the flow of funding has started to level off.

“We are not ready”

The issue of financing could be important at this year’s meeting in Antalya, Turkey, which begins next week.

Pledges are very important because they mean we can hold people accountable. But what we are seeing is that these collective pledges are difficult to fulfill, says Andersen.

Henry Neufeldt, head of climate impact assessment and adaptation at the UNEP Climate Centre in Copenhagen, says that the extreme weather we see today is the result of emissions produced 20 years ago.

So the emissions we produce today will cause impacts, no matter how much we reduce emissions. That means we have to invest more in adaptation, and there will be more losses and damages, he says, adding:

We are not ready for a world beyond 1.5 degrees.