A United Nations report indicates that developing countries, facing increasing climate threats, are not receiving sufficient funds to help them adapt to these changes.

The broken promise: Despite richer countries pledging to deliver $100 billion annually to poorer nations for climate adaptation, they actually provided 15% less in 2021 than in the previous year.
* The money was intended for improvements such as flood defenses, drought-resistant crops, and early warning systems.
* This decrease in funding further widens the gap between the amount required by developing nations and the amount they actually receive, which the UN estimates to be between $194 billion and $366 billion per year.

The cost of lack of action: Delaying investments in climate adaptation could lead to increased damage in the affected countries.
* For example, flooding in Pakistan caused by heavy rain, a climate change effect, resulted in 1,700 deaths and an estimated $14.9 billion in damage.
* The failure to provide sufficient aid for adaptation strategies is already significantly impacting some developing countries.

The future outlook: Although developed countries aim to double their adaptation funding to approximately $40 billion annually by 2025, it remains significantly less than the required amount.
* While new targets for climate financing will be set by nations next year, efforts have also begun to redirect climate funding to developing countries via changes in how organizations like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund operate.
* Additionally, companies are showing increased interest in helping poorer nations to become more resilient to climate change.

What they’re saying: “People do want to adapt, do see climate change coming, do know what to do — but there’s no finance available to actually do it,” said Pieter Pauw, one of the authors of the UN report.

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