Adaptation Fund head laments “puzzling” lack of pledges at COP29

From the floods which have swept via Spain to typhoons battering the Philippines, excessive climate is hitting the world arduous – however even after years of warnings about the necessity to adapt to the perils of a warmer world, susceptible international locations and communities are unlikely to get a lot speedy assist from the COP29 local weather summit, officers advised Local weather Dwelling.  

There’s a “nice paradox” in proof on the UN summit in Azerbaijan between leaders’ speeches urgently calling to maintain folks secure from worsening local weather change impacts – and the obvious lack of cash out there to try this, Mikko Ollikainen, the pinnacle of the Adaptation Fund, stated in an interview.

The UN fund – which has been on the slicing fringe of efforts to construct resilience to excessive climate and rising seas for the final 15 years – solely managed to safe contributions of round $61 million from donor international locations at a fundraising occasion on Thursday, in opposition to its annual aim of $300 million.

COP29: We have to adapt to local weather chaos now

This regardless of exhortations from UN Secretary-Common Antonio Guterres and the UN local weather chief Simon Stiell in the beginning of COP29 for wealthy international locations to fill the massive hole in adaptation funding, which might attain $187 billion-$359 billion a 12 months by 2030.

“These lacking {dollars} are usually not abstractions on a steadiness sheet: they’re lives taken, harvests misplaced, and growth denied,” stated Guterres.

Whereas there’s nonetheless time for extra governments to come back ahead with new monetary pledges earlier than the tip of COP29, Ollikainen stated mid-way via the talks that “this 12 months the scenario seems fairly tough”.

“Contributor governments [are] virtually all speaking concerning the significance of adaptation – and fairly a number of of them are recognising the necessity for grant-based financing for adaptation particularly – so it’s puzzling how that pertains to the truth of there not being new pledges to the Adaptation Fund or adaptation funds generally,” he advised Local weather Dwelling on the sidelines of the COP.

The explanation for donor governments’ reluctance to make recent pledges is unclear, however they might be ready to see the result of the robust negotiations on a brand new local weather finance aim (known as the NCQG) at COP29 earlier than deciding on the place to place their money.

Tasks backed by the Adaptation Fund vary from serving to smallholder farmers shield their harvests from droughts and floods, to lowering the consequences of hotter and better seas on coastal villages, and making colleges stronger in opposition to disasters, throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Ultimately 12 months’s local weather convention in Dubai, the Adaptation Fund additionally fell in need of the identical goal – bringing in round $188 million. However there, rich governments had an excuse: they had been additionally requested to dig deep to get the fledgling Fund for Responding to Loss and Injury (FRLD) fund up and operating, which they did to the tune of almost $700 million.

This 12 months, nonetheless, they will’t conceal behind the FRLD, as new cash for that at COP29 has thus far amounted to little greater than an $18.4 million pledge from Sweden. Stockholm has additionally stumped up round $763 million for the Inexperienced Local weather Fund and $12 million for the Adaptation Fund.

This week, general, the Adaptation Fund has obtained pledges from ten European international locations and areas, with flood-hit Spain providing essentially the most ($19 million). The UK and the European Union are thus far no-shows, although Germany has stated it plans to contribute.

To make issues worse, the Least Developed Nations (LDC) Fund – additionally arrange underneath the UN local weather talks to assist susceptible international locations adapt to local weather change – has needed to droop a deliberate pledging occasion at CO29 after it “didn’t get excellent indicators” cash can be forthcoming, the chair of the LDC Group, Evans Njewa of Malawi, advised Local weather Dwelling on Friday.

From cyclone to drought, Zimbabwe’s local weather victims wrestle to adapt

Wealthy international locations stated this month that they’re on observe to double their finance to assist creating nations adapt to local weather change by 2025 to at the very least $40 billion a 12 months – however the UN’s Adaptation Hole report reveals that even assembly this aim would cowl only a tiny fraction of what poorer international locations must grow to be extra resilient to excessive climate and rising seas.

And with much less cash being promised to his fund thus far this 12 months, Ollikainen stated “the route is sort of incorrect” as wants are rising. The Adaptation Fund has an extended pipeline of tasks – but when donors don’t cough up extra it’s going to run out of cash, he added. It’s set to obtain earnings from a 5% levy on gross sales of offsets within the new UN carbon market, however that won’t begin till 2026, he famous.

Samoan minister Cedric Schuster, who chairs the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), advised Local weather Dwelling he stays hopeful extra money will come via for susceptible international locations at COP29 – and that the brand new local weather finance aim because of be agreed in Baku will guarantee contributions sooner or later.

“We will’t do something if there aren’t any pledges,” he stated.

(Reporting by Megan Rowling; enhancing by Sebastian Rodriguez)