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Even half of the minimum adaptation fund required for 2026, $300 million, could not be mustered this year at the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), global adaptation officials have told this correspondent.
They pointed out that adaptation projects, worth more than a billion dollars and located mostly in the Global South including India, could not be supported due to the dearth of funds. The draft cover text, circulated on November 21, urged developed countries to triple adaptation finance by 2030 compared to 2025 levels.
According to data received, six projects are currently being implemented under the Adaptation Fund in various parts of India, the last of which came in 2016. “In the last nine years, not even a single project was approved for India apparently due to a lack of funds. This is extremely worrying for a country like India that needs so much support for carrying out adaptation in its backyard,” said an Indian official at Belem.
Resource mobilisation critical
“Resource mobilisation is critical for the Fund at the Belém conference as it seeks a minimum target goal of raising at least US$300 million in 2025 to help put it on the path towards tripling its outflows by 2030, in accordance with decisions taken at COP29, and help meet a growing pipeline of projects under development that has surpassed $1 billion,” said a senior official of the Global Adaptation Fund board to this correspondent on November 21.
“As of now, of our set floor target amount of $300 million, the minimum requirement of the adaptation fund, we could barely achieve around 40 per cent at COP30,” said the official.
Though the Fund can accept money at any time of the year, most of its annual fund pledges come during COPs.
Sources pointed out that after a very dismal first week, which saw hardly 20 per cent of targets being achieved, the second week of COP30 saw some movement and overall funding equivalent to about $135 million being pledged to the Adaptation Fund board. That is still only 40 per cent of the target amount.
Litmus test
“It is the third year in a row that contributors have failed to meet the target set for the Adaptation Fund. This year’s pledges are particularly consequential, given the new climate finance goal of $300 billion per year by 2035 established at COP29, where Parties decided to significantly increase the public resources provided through UNFCCC-linked funds like the Adaptation Fund,” said the global climate platform Climate Action Network (CAN).
“This year’s pledges — or the lack thereof — are the first litmus test of developed countries’ commitment to fulfilling this new climate finance goal,” reminded CAN experts to this correspondent recently.
CAN argued that the latest failure to provide sufficient finance for the Adaptation Fund highlights the lack of commitment of developed countries to fulfil their obligations under the Paris Agreement, as recently reaffirmed by the International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion. “This reality was also reflected in the negotiations in COP30, where developing countries made a strong push for a dedicated agenda space to discuss these obligations by developed countries, in particular under Article 9.1 under the Paris Agreement, to provide public, predictable, timely and adequate climate finance to support climate action in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement,” added one expert.
New contribution pledges, key to building up climate resilience for the most vulnerable, came from 10 countries being led by Germany with about $70 million, followed by Spain with about $23 million, Sweden with $14 million, Ireland with $12 million and others.
“We are grateful to all of the contributors for stepping up to deliver effective adaptation action (and) they will help the Adaptation Fund reach more vulnerable communities in developing countries with urgently needed adaptation projects on the ground,” said Mikko Ollikainen, Head of the Adaptation Fund. The official however expressed hope that “others will come forward in the coming days” for supporting the fund board.
“Adaptation to climate change is rightly a key focus of COP30,” said Carsten Schneider, German Minister for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. He claimed that Germany has been a reliable partner to the Adaptation Fund Board over years and added, “ … I hope that our contribution will build trust further and lend momentum to the search for joint solutions in Belém.”