Published on: 2026-11-04
Source: United Nations – Объединенные Нации –
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November 4, 2026 Climate and Environment
Global warming is projected to exceed the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold, but the world is not ready for it. Much less money is allocated for adaptation than needed, institutional barriers hinder the implementation of necessary measures, and the scale of losses and damage is increasing. This is stated in a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on the gap in climate change adaptation measures for 2026. The document is titled “Ready? No.”
“For every dollar that developing countries need for adaptation, they receive only 10 cents. This gap is measured not only in money. It is measured in human lives, livelihoods, and lost futures. And it will only grow as warming exceeds 1.5 degrees,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in a video message on the occasion of the report’s release.
According to the authors’ estimates, by 2035 the funding needs of developing countries for adaptation measures will amount to about 305 billion dollars per year. At the same time, the growth of international public financing from developed countries is slowing down: in 2024, the amount reached 28.2–31.7 billion dollars – only 1 billion more than the previous year.
“The world is not ready to adapt to the current climate conditions, let alone what will happen if the temperature threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius is exceeded,” said UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen. According to her, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-31) in Turkey and beyond, countries must focus on intensifying efforts to achieve the goal agreed upon at COP-30 – to triple the volume of adaptation funding by 2035.
Funding is still insufficient
Even if the CS-30 target is achieved, this will not be enough. Depending on what is taken as the basis for calculation – current volumes or the figures of the Glasgow Climate Pact – by 2035 international financing for adaptation measures could increase to 85–120 billion dollars per year. Taking inflation into account, this would cover only 20–29 percent of the needs. For the least developed countries and small island developing states, the picture is somewhat better: a threefold increase in financing could cover 49–84 percent of their needs.
At the same time, support for the most vulnerable countries declined after peaking in 2022, although it should have increased. For the least developed countries and small island developing states, needs are especially high: they amount to 3–4 percent of these countries’ GDP — twice as much as for developing countries with upper-middle income.
“The choice is simple: either invest in adaptation today, or pay for disaster tomorrow,” emphasized the Secretary-General.
There is also good news
The goal of the Glasgow Climate Pact—to double adaptation financing compared to the 2019 level, reaching $40 billion by 2025—can still be achieved. Multilateral development banks are likely to have significantly increased funding by 2025. However, much will depend on whether the reduction in official development assistance affects bilateral flows.
Developing countries are increasingly helping each other: contributions through multilateral development banks and South-South cooperation rose from 3.8 billion dollars in 2019 to 9.6 billion in 2024. Private investments are also growing, but they are primarily directed towards the business’s own adaptation needs and can narrow the funding gap by only 15–20 percent.
Money is not the only condition for success. Governments are strengthening the institutional environment: adopting framework laws to combat climate change, establishing coordination between sectors and levels of government, and creating special mechanisms for mobilizing and managing climate finance.
Losses and damages are increasing
Adaptation cannot prevent all the consequences of climate change. From 2020 to 2025, countries with low and middle incomes accounted for 99 percent of the 765 million people affected by floods and landslides.
Funding for measures to address losses and damage does not meet needs. In the first round, the Loss and Damage Response Fund received applications totaling $2.8 billion—significantly more than the initial funding amount of $342 million. This indicates a large unmet demand.
The report authors call for strengthening damage assessment capacity, ensuring predictable financial and technical support, simplifying access to it, and involving affected communities in developing response measures.
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