Why is it in the news?

• The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has recently unveiled the Adaptation Gap Report 2023.

About the Report

• Introduced in 2014, the Adaptation Gap Report aims to guide national and global adaptation efforts.
• It is structured into two main segments:

A comprehensive assessment of global adaptation progress, encompassing three dimensions i.e.,    Planning, Financing and Implementation; and

A detailed exploration of adaptation within a specific sector or theme, structured around the three aforementioned elements. This focus rotates annually.

Key Findings

Gap between Need and Action:

• 2023 witnessed a surge in climate extremes such as shattered temperature records, storms, floods, droughts, and heatwaves.
• Yet, there’s a widening disparity between the urgency of protection needed against these challenges and the ongoing actions.
• Notably, there’s a deceleration in progress in the three key areas: finance, planning, and implementation.

Financial Concerns:

• Developing countries’ adaptation finance requirements stand at a staggering 10-18 times more than the international public finance inflows, marking a surge of over 50% compared to prior estimates.
• Defined as the variance between the projected costs of climate adaptation in developing nations and the accessible finance, the adaptation finance gap is discernibly broad.
• Financial contributions from public multilateral entities, such as the World Bank, and bilateral sources (transfers from developed to developing countries) saw a decline of 15%.
• In numerous developing nations, the principal funding source for adaptation emerges from domestic budgets.
• The adaptation finance gaps remain largely unaddressed by both domestic and private financial channels, especially in countries with lower income.

Recommendations

• The report underscores that a USD 1 billion investment in adaptation against coastal flooding can curtail economic damages by a whopping USD 14 billion.
• Allocating USD 16 billion annually towards agriculture could potentially shield approximately 78 million individuals from hunger induced by climate anomalies.
• To bolster financing, the report proposes seven methodologies, encompassing: Elevating domestic expenditure; Tapping into international finance; Engaging the private sector; Redirecting remittances; Augmenting finance to small and medium businesses; and Reforming the global financial framework.