A new United Nations report issued on Wednesday delivers a stark warning: financial aid from affluent nations to help poorer countries cope with climate change’s devastating impacts—like intense storms and crippling heat waves—is actually shrinking.
According to the U.N. Environment Program, wealthy countries contributed approximately $26 billion towards climate adaptation in 2023, marking a 7 percent decrease from the year before. This downturn makes it improbable that these nations will fulfill their significant commitment to deliver at least $40 billion in annual aid by 2025. Alarmingly, even this pledged sum is considerably less than what developing countries will require to withstand the escalating climate crises.
These findings underscore a concerning slowdown in global efforts against climate change. Adding to the challenge, President Trump is in the process of pulling the United States out of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, a landmark accord where nearly all nations committed to curbing planet-warming emissions.
Despite President Trump’s absence, other world leaders are slated to convene next month in Belém, Brazil, for the annual U.N. climate change summit. However, preliminary discussions indicate a challenging road ahead for these critical talks.
In a separate report released on Tuesday, the United Nations noted that only about a third of countries have managed to update their national emission reduction plans by the set deadline.
Ilana Seid, an ambassador from Palau and chair of the Alliance of Small Island States – a key negotiating group for climate-vulnerable nations at the U.N. climate talks – expressed her dismay: “The overall sluggish progress should send shock waves through every citizen.”
These urgent reports coincided with Hurricane Melissa, a catastrophic Category 5 storm, making landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday, leaving widespread destruction in its wake.
Ms. Seid highlighted the immediate crisis, stating, “At this very moment, people from small island developing states are enduring the devastating effects of an unprecedented hurricane season, knowing they have limited resources to recover and will face an arduous process to access the necessary finance.”
The Paris Agreement set a goal for nations to keep the global average temperature increase “well below” 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels; the planet has already warmed by approximately 1.3 degrees Celsius. Nations committed to submitting and updating voluntary plans for emission reductions every five years.
Current national commitments suggest the world is on track for a global warming increase of roughly 2.7 degrees Celsius (4.9 degrees Fahrenheit). While this might appear to be a minor difference, scientists warn that even a small increase in temperature dramatically heightens the risks of severe heat waves, destructive wildfires, prolonged droughts, intense storms, and widespread species extinction.
With many nations facing challenges in reducing emissions, U.N. discussions have increasingly shifted towards empowering communities to shield themselves from the inevitable consequences of a warming planet.
Climate adaptation strategies encompass a variety of measures, such as cultivating drought-resistant crops, raising structures to prevent flood damage, or relocating entire communities from vulnerable coastal areas. Furthermore, it involves upgrading essential infrastructure like roads, power grids, and healthcare facilities to better endure diverse natural disasters.
Henry Neufeldt, a lead author of the U.N. adaptation report, emphasized the financial realities: “Much of what countries need to address climate risk aren’t places where the private sector can get a clear return on their investment. To raise the kind of finance needed, much of it has to come from the public sector.”
By 2035, developing nations are projected to require an annual investment of $310 billion to $365 billion to effectively adapt to rising global temperatures, according to the report’s estimates.
The extent of financial contributions from wealthy nations has remained a contentious issue in international climate negotiations for many years. Historically, industrialized nations, including the United States and European countries, have been the primary emitters of heat-trapping greenhouse gases through the combustion of fossil fuels. In contrast, developing countries, particularly in Africa, have contributed minimally to this problem yet disproportionately bear the brunt of climate-induced disasters.
Just four years prior, affluent countries committed to doubling their adaptation funding to at least $40 billion annually by 2025. However, the U.N. report indicates that this target is unlikely to be met. Aid for adaptation from wealthy nations and development banks saw a decrease from $28 billion in 2022 to $26 billion in 2023, with little indication of a reversal in this trend.
In 2023, the Biden administration aimed to provide $3.1 billion in adaptation aid. Conversely, Mr. Trump, known for largely disregarding global warming concerns, has systematically dismantled most climate aid initiatives.
Despite the grim overall picture, the report highlights some encouraging developments: a minimum of 172 countries now possess at least one national climate adaptation plan. Many regions have successfully lowered the risks associated with weather-related catastrophes by implementing measures such as flood barriers, widespread air-conditioning, and advanced early-warning systems for tropical cyclones. Consequently, between 1970 and 2021, global fatalities from extreme weather events like floods, droughts, and heat waves decreased by approximately two-thirds, as reported by the World Meteorological Organization.
However, experts caution that many nations continue to adopt reactive adaptation strategies, such as reinforcing flood defenses only after a severe rainstorm, instead of developing comprehensive, proactive plans to prepare for escalating temperatures.
Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program, summarized the critical situation: “The reality is simple. If we do not invest in adaptation now, we will face escalating costs every year.”