Adapt or perish: UN calls for urgent action at COP29 climate summit

In its Adaptation Gap Report 2024: Come Hell and High Water, UNEP warned that vulnerable communities are already bearing the brunt of climate change impacts through extreme weather and disasters.

“Climate change is already devastating communities across the world, particularly the most poor and vulnerable. Raging storms are flattening homes, wildfires are wiping out forests, and land degradation and drought are degrading landscapes,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP.

“People, their livelihoods and the nature upon which they depend are in real danger from the consequences of climate change. Without action, this is a preview of what our future holds and why there simply is no excuse for the world not to get serious about adaptation, now.”

UNEP stressed that without immediate action, the world will likely exceed 1.5°C of warming soon and could even reach a catastrophic rise of 2.6-3.1°C above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century.

Kicking off on 11 November in Baku, Azerbaijan, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) will see delegations from all corners of the world joining top UN officials, civil society and other key sectors to measure progress and negotiate the best ways to address climate change.

Climate crisis is here

“The climate crisis is here,” declared UN Secretary-General António Guterres, emphasizing the urgency of immediate action as the world faces an onslaught of extreme-weather events.

He highlighted the “human tragedy” behind these disasters, which are “hammering health, widening inequalities, harming sustainable development and rocking the foundations of peace”.

In a video message at the report’s launch, Mr. Guterres called for action in key areas, including integrating adaptation into national climate plans, implementing effective early warning systems and rapidly scaling up finances for adaptation.

Additionally, countries must “strike at the heart of the crisis: greenhouse gases,” he said.

“The climate crisis is here. We can’t postpone protection. We must adapt – now.”

New common goal

The report highlighted the widening gap between the funds needed for adaptation – the adjustments needed to slow the rate of global warming – and current levels of public investment.

While international adaptation finance for developing countries rose to $28 billion in 2022, it is still far below what is required, with estimates suggesting that between $187 and $359 billion annually will be required for overcoming the adaptation finance gap.

Against this backdrop, UNEP called for a “new collective quantified goal” for climate finance at COP29 and including stronger adaptation components in their next round of climate pledges due early next year ahead of COP30 in Belém, Brazil.

Shift focus

Alongside, it also urged countries to make substantial commitments at COP29 and beyond, including on increased financing as well as shifting the nature of adaptation funding from short-term project-based initiatives, to strategic, anticipatory investments.

This would help address long-term resilience, especially for vulnerable regions most affected by climate change.

UNEP suggested “enabling factors” that could unlock both public and private sector funding, such as the creation of creation of funds and financing facilities, climate fiscal planning and climate budget tagging, and adaptation investment planning.

Support innovations

The report also highlighted the role of multilateral development banks in scaling up financing and supporting innovative financial solutions.

For the private sector, UNEP advocated for risk-reducing mechanisms, to attract more investment in adaptation.

Finance alone is not sufficient, it added, calling on nations to strengthen capacity-building and technology transfers to enhance adaptation efforts in key areas of water, food and agriculture.