Adaptation Gap Report 2023

Country Grouping
Least Developed Countries (LDCs)
Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
Scale
National
Expertise Level
Practitioner
Resource Type
Guidance and Frameworks
Language
English
Developer or Source
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

The Adaptation Gap Report 2023 – which looks at progress in planning, financing and implementing adaptation actions – finds that the adaptation finance needs of developing countries are 10-18 times as big as international public finance flows. This is over 50 per cent higher than the previous range estimate.

The modelled costs of adaptation in developing countries are estimated at US$215 billion per year this decade. The adaptation finance needed to implement domestic adaptation priorities is estimated at US$387 billion per year.

Despite these needs, public multilateral and bilateral adaptation finance flows to developing countries declined by 15 per cent to US$21 billion in 2021. As a result of the growing adaptation finance needs and faltering flows, the current adaptation finance gap is now estimated at US$194-366 billion per year. At the same time, adaptation planning and implementation appear to be plateauing. This failure to adapt has massive implications for losses and damages, particularly for the most vulnerable.

This report identifies seven ways to increase financing, including through domestic expenditure and international and private sector finance. Additional avenues include remittances, increasing and tailoring finance to Small and Medium Enterprises and a reform of the global financial architecture. The new Loss and Damage fund will also need to move towards more innovative financing mechanisms to reach the necessary scale of investment.

Find more resources

More Tools By This Developer (50)

Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Global Environment Facility (GEF), UNEP DTU, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Global Environment Facility (GEF), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

Conservation International, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, The Nature Conservancy, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Wetlands International, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), University of Eastern Finland (UEF)

Africa E-Mobility Alliance (AfEMA), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

CERI, Terre des hommes, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), GRID-Arendal, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Climate Focus, EAT, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)

International Labour Organization (ILO), Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Global Alliance for Buildings & Construction, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Global Resource Information Database (GRID-Geneva), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Bank

Asian Development Bank (ADB), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Global Environment Facility (GEF), Global Support Programme (GSP), UNEP DTU, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Coastal Hazard Wheel platform, Deltares, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Climate Development and Knowledge Network (CDKN), Frankfurt School Collaborating Centre, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Global Environment Facility (GEF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Bank