How is adaptation included within the international climate agenda?

Adaptation seeks to reduce the risks posed by climate change, and to benefit from any associated opportunities where possible. It is one of two main policy responses to climate change, the other being mitigation – reducing greenhouse gas emissions to address the root causes of climate change.

Adaptation has historically been deprioritised in favour of mitigation in international climate governance and, according to the 2023 UN Environment Programme’s Adaptation Gap Report, it remains significantly underfunded. However, as the impacts of climate change continue to manifest and grow, adaptation is being given more attention in global policy processes.

Overarching goals and targets

The Paris Agreement contains a global goal on adaptation (GGA), “to enhance adaptive capacity and resilience; to reduce vulnerability, with a view to contributing to sustainable development; and ensuring an adequate adaptation response in the context of the goal of containing average global warming well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to hold it below 1.5°C”. In 2023, countries agreed to a framework for the GGA with 11 global targets. By 2030, all Parties are meant to have conducted climate change impact assessments and used their outcomes to inform their National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), policy instruments and planning processes; made progress in implementing adaptation plans; and operationalised a system for monitoring and evaluating adaptation efforts.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) includes adaptation as a critical part of the long-term global response to climate change. It recognises the “specific needs and special circumstances” of developing countries that would have to bear a “disproportionate burden” under the Convention, and provides them with support mechanisms for adaptation implementation, including provision of funding, insurance and technology transfer. It also provides scientific and technical assistance for all Parties to enhance their knowledge base; for example, through the Adaptation Knowledge Portal under the Nairobi Work Programme, and the Lima Adaptation Knowledge Initiative.

In addition, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 on climate action contains the target to “strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries”. Adaptation and resilience concerns also run through other SDGs and their related targets.

How have recent CoP sessions advanced climate change adaptation?

Attention to adaptation has increased over time, including through the establishment of the Adaptation Committee in 2010 and the strong anchoring of adaptation in the Paris Agreement. Recent sessions of the Conference of the Parties (CoP) to the Paris Agreement have seen a rise in focus on adaptation. At COP28 in December 2023, Parties to the Paris Agreement adopted a new framework for the GGA, the ‘UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience’. The purpose of the framework is to “guide the achievement of the global goal on adaptation and the review of overall progress in achieving it with a view to reducing the increasing adverse impacts, risks and vulnerabilities associated with climate change, as well as to enhance adaptation action and support”. The framework includes seven global thematic targets to be achieved by 2030 and beyond, including: attaining climate-resilient food production; accelerating the use of ecosystem-based adaptation and nature-based solutions; protecting cultural heritage from the impacts of climate-related risks; reducing the adverse effects of climate change to facilitate poverty eradication; and strengthening resilience to water-related climate hazards. A two-year work programme has established indicators for measuring progress towards the goal’s targets.

Adaptation is also part of the Global Stocktake, a comprehensive assessment of the world’s progress on climate action that takes place every five years. COP28 saw the conclusion of the first Global Stocktake, which noted that 51 countries have now submitted National Adaptation Plans.

How is the financing gap for adaptation being addressed?

UNEP’s Adaptation Gap Report noted a widening adaptation finance gap in developing countries, estimated at US$194–366 billion per year. It found that the finance requirement for adaptation is likely 10 to 18 times more than current finance flows, and 50% higher than previous estimates. The International High Level Expert Group on Climate Finance has also highlighted that the adaptation finance gap is growing.

A call from 2021 was reiterated in the COP28 final outcome for developed countries “to at least double” adaptation finance for developing nations by 2025, and it was agreed to prepare a report to assess progress on that effort.

A new financial target for adaptation is under discussion as part of the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG) that is scheduled to be agreed at COP29 in 2024. The NCQG is intended to replace the existing goal of developed countries mobilising US$100 billion per year in climate finance for developing countries by 2020, which was not met by the target date, though preliminary evidence suggests it was achieved in 2022. The NCQG is expected to be significantly higher than US$100 billion per year, while also broadening the donor base beyond the 1994 definition of developed countries under the UNFCCC.

Financial pledges related to adaptation at COP28 included:

• New commitments totalling US$3.5 billion for the second replenishment of the Green Climate Fund, representing a 28% increase compared with the first replenishment. Half of the total pot of US$12.8 billion is devoted to adaptation.
• A US$1 billion fund for climate and health initiatives comprising combined pledges from various governments and organisations such as: US$300 million from the Global Fund to prepare health systems; US$100 million from the Rockefeller Foundation for scaling up climate and health solutions; and up to £54 million from the UK Government, as part of a £100 million funding package from the country to help climate-vulnerable populations adapt to climate change.
• A donation of US$200 million for the Global Environment Facility from the UAE to fund programmes addressing climate change adaptation in developing countries.
• New pledges totalling nearly US$188 million to the Adaptation Fund, to support projects including early-warning systems for extreme weather events, climate-resilient infrastructure development and sustainable water management practices.

Is the link between nature and climate change being addressed in adaptation policy?

COP28 emphasised the interconnectedness of climate change with biodiversity loss and pollution. The framework for the global goal on adaptation includes a target to accelerate the use of ecosystem-based adaptation and nature-based solutions by 2030, and recognises the leadership of Indigenous Peoples and local communities “as stewards of nature”, encouraging the application of local knowledge in implementing the framework for the GGA.

In addition, the first Global Stocktake emphasised the role of ecosystems in adaptation, such as by recognising the role of water systems in delivering climate adaptation benefits.

This Explainer was written by Sam Kumari and Georgina Kyriacou with review by Timo Leiter and Anna Beswick.