UNEP Adaptation Gap Report 2023: WWF warns growing finance gap leaves vulnerable people and ecosystems in peril

Responding to the UNEP Adaptation Gap Report 2023 published, WWF warns that slow progress and insufficient finance for efforts to increase resilience to the climate crisis leaves everyone, and particularly the most vulnerable, in a desperate situation. 

After a year of unprecedented high temperatures and catastrophic extreme weather events, the annual update shows the world is failing to take the impacts of the climate crisis seriously, with slowing progress on financing, planning, and implementation of adaptation measures.

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, WWF Global Climate and Energy Lead, and President of COP20, said: 
“The world faces an unprecedented and protracted humanitarian and ecological crisis due to the climate emergency and resulting weather-related disasters. It is unacceptable to see progress on adaptation slowing and finance declining, while climate impacts escalate.

“For the COP28 climate talks to have credibility, they must inspire action to build the climate resilience of communities and ecosystems around the world. Unlocking this action requires at least 50% of total public climate finance dedicated for adaptation as a grant financing to meet the needs of vulnerable countries. Leaders must also do more to tackle the causes of the climate crisis by slashing carbon emissions and restoring nature.  Deciding to phase-out of fossil fuels will be a big step towards this.”


Sandeep Chamling Rai, WWF, WWF Senior Advisor, Climate Adaptation Policy, said, “The UNEP report provides a stark reminder of how critical climate adaptation is, and how inadequate the support provided has been so far. The UN climate talks this year must take bold decisions to accelerate the implementation of adaptation to help safeguard the climate vulnerable people and nature. Countries must also provide the necessary finance to enable this.”

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WWF’s COP28 expectation paper is available here

The UNEP Adaptation Gap Report 2023 is available here

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IMAGE CAPTION:

Aerial view of low tide where Raviravi village meets the sea, Fiji. The streams that can be seen serve as a natural protection during high-tide, steering some of the incoming seawater away from the houses. Josateki Manatua has been living in the Raviravi village all his life and witnessed the progressing shoreline first hand. In his lifetime the ocean has advanced more than 30m towards their village, flooding the cemetery, killing trees and forcing people to re-locate inland. The kitchen of the closest house to the sea, standing on little poles, is now regularly (during high tide) flooded underneath. The community is deeply worried about their future. One of the steps they have undertaken to combat the effects of climate change is planting mangroves in the hope of slowing down the seas progress.

© Tom Vierus / WWF-UK