UN warns global climate adaptation funds running dangerously low

The world is running out of money to protect people and economies from worsening climate disasters, a new United Nations report has revealed.

According to UNEP’s Adaptation Gap Report 2025: Running on Empty, developing countries will require more than $310 billion (Sh40 trillion) every year by 2035 to deal with the growing effects of climate change, an amount twelve times higher than the current level of international public funding.

While many nations are improving their climate adaptation plans, UNEP warns that the funding gap continues to widen at an alarming rate.

“Climate impacts are accelerating. Yet adaptation finance is not keeping pace, leaving the world’s most vulnerable exposed to rising seas, deadly storms and searing heat,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

He described adaptation as “a lifeline, not a cost”.

UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen cautioned that no one is immune to the effects of a changing climate, pointing to the increasing frequency of wildfires, floods and soaring living costs.

“If we do not invest in adaptation now, we will face escalating costs every year,” she said, urging nations to channel more resources into adaptation efforts that do not increase the debt burden of already vulnerable countries.

The report shows that financing for adaptation in developing nations dropped from $28 billion (Sh3.6 trillion) in 2022 to $26 billion (Sh3.3 trillion) in 2023.

This decline leaves an annual gap of between $284 billion and $339 billion (Sh36-43 trillion).

UNEP notes that although 172 countries now have at least one adaptation policy or strategy, 36 of them are outdated or have not been reviewed in more than ten years.

Africa remains one of the hardest-hit regions, with climate adaptation funding far below what is needed to shield communities from devastating droughts, floods and heatwaves.

The report warns that inflation and competing global priorities could raise adaptation costs to between $440 billion and $520 billion (Sh56-67 trillion) a year by 2035.

UNEP also points out that the current $300 billion global climate finance goal includes both mitigation and adaptation, meaning that adaptation receives only a small portion of the funds.

The report urges urgent international action to boost both public and private investments and ensure that climate adaptation efforts are adequately financed to protect lives and livelihoods worldwide.

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