Them 2022 Adaptation Gap Report was released ahead of the UN COP27 climate conference, which opens this weekend in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
He called for increased funding and the implementation of actions aimed at helping vulnerable countries and regions adapt to the climate emergency in the face of transportation risks.
Annual adaptation needs are estimated to be between $160 billion to $340 billion by the end of the decade, and up to $565 billion by 2050.
Quick action now
“Climate change is coming wanted after giving on humanity, as we see throughout 2022: most viscerally in the floods that put much of Pakistan under water,” Inger Andersen, the UNEP Executive Director.
“The world must quickly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit the effects of climate change. But we must also speed up efforts to adapt to existing and future challenges. ”
The report emphasizes that adaptation, and mitigation, must be front and center in the global response to the climate crisis.
The effects will increase
Under the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, countries have pledged to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-occupation temperatures but are far from on track.
Pakistan’s floods and other current impacts, such as the historic drought in the Horn of Africa, are occurring when global temperatures rise only 1.1°Celsius above pre-occupation levels.
In a companion report released earlier this week, UNEP said that Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – governments’ own national plans to combat climate change – point to global warming of up to 2.6° C at the end of the century.
Furthermore, research from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) shows that climate risks will increase with each tenth of a degree.
Failure to protect
For UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the report makes it clear that the world is failing to protect people from what he calls the “here-and-now effects” of climate change.
“Adaptation needs in the developing world are set to rise about $340 billion a year by 2030. Yet today’s adaptation support stands at less than a tenth of that amount,” he said in a message marking the launch.
“The most vulnerable people and communities are paying the price. This is unacceptable.”
The report found that progress on adaptation had been “slow and uneven”.
Eighty percent of countries have at least one national adaptation planning instrument, while a third of the 197 governments that are party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have included measures and targets. Save time on customization.
Funding is an issue
In addition, almost seventy percent of the planning materials study exposure sensitivity for gender and disadvantaged groups, such as indigenous people.
However, funding for these plans is a bright spot. Estimated adaptation costs are five to 10 times greater than international adaptation financing flows to developing countries, which reached 29 billion in 2020, a four percent increase over last year.
By 2020, combined renewable and mitigation financing flows fall at least $17 billion short of the $100 billion committed annually to developing countries.
UNEP says that a significant scale-up is needed to meet the target double the 2019 cash flow by 2025, as emphasized the outcome of the COP26 world climate conference, held last year in Glasgow, Scotland.
“Countries need to back up the strong words in the Glasgow Climate Pact with strong action to bring transformational investments and results, starting at COP27,” Ms. Andersen said.
Meanwhile, although the implementation of adaptation actions – mainly in agriculture, water, ecosystems and cross-cutting sectors – is increasing, it is not compatible with climate impacts and can pass through accelerated weather hazards.
‘No time to waste’
Highlighting the need for strong political will to increase investments and results, the Secretary-General said the innovation gap must be addressed in four key ways.
“The world must rise up and protect people and the environment from the immediate and ever-growing dangers of climate emergency. We have no time to lose,” he warned.
The UN leader called for increasing the quantity and quality of the financing of the developed countries to achieve the goal of doubling the support for innovation to $ 40 billion annually by 2025.
‘At COP27, they must show up a credible road map with clear milestones on how this will be delivered – mainly as grants, not loans,” said Mr. Guterres.
“They must also exercise their role as government shareholders of the multilateral development banks prioritize adaptation, resilience and resilience. At least half of all climate spending should flow to adaptation. ”
‘Sina’ investment pipeline
The world urgently needs a new business model for turning adaptation priorities into investment projects, he continued, pointing to the mismatch between what governments plan and what investors think of as investment.
“The investment road is blocked; we must open now. Anilo a global readiness in adaptation investment to save millions of lives from climate killing. It is time for unprecedented coordination between recipient governments, development partners and other stakeholders,” he said.
Relatedly, the Secretary-General has asked the UN Development Program (UNDP), the NDC Partnership, and various climate funds to work with public and private funds to pilot the new Pipeline Accelerator for targeted countries.
Children scavenge for scraps of wood to help their parents rebuild their house after it was destroyed by the strong winds of Hurricane Iota in Nicaragua.
Early warning saves lives
Mr. Guterres highlighted the need for “better climate risk data and information”, his third point, which is important to protect lives and livelihoods in vulnerable countries and regions.
For his final point, the UN chief stressed the importance of delivering on his appeal for international early warning systems within five years. He called for the financial and technical support needed to implement an action plan that the World Climate Organization (WMO) will present at COP27.
While these key areas require unprecedented international cooperation and support, it is also acknowledged that in many areas, it is too late for adaptation.
Therefore, COP27 must provide a clear roadmap and timeline on closing the financial gap address loss and damagea statement that he said would be “the central litmus test for success” in Egypt.
