Rich nations provided $32.4 billion in adaptation finance in 2022; large gap remains: Report

New Delhi: Developed countries provided $32.4 billion in 2022 to help developing countries adapt to climate change, including $ 28.9 billion in public funding, a new report shows.

This amount was about 23 per cent higher than in 2021 and 54 per cent higher than in 2019, according to the report submitted by a group of developed countries to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

However, according to a UN report released in November last year, developing countries need $215–387 billion every year to protect themselves from the impacts of climate change.

At the UN climate conference in Glasgow in 2021, developed nations were urged to double their adaptation funding for developing countries by 2025, using 2019 as the baseline.

The UN climate summit in Dubai in December 2023 repeated this call, asking developed countries to report progress in 2024.

The report published on the UNFCCC website on Monday said $ 11.6 billion of international public finance was provided as grants, $17.2 billion was provided as loans, and $100 million was provided as equity in 2022. Compared to 2019, grants increased by 63 per cent, and loans rose by 48 per cent.

Of the total $32.4 billion mobilised in 2022, $10.6 billion was given as bilateral aid, while USD 18.3 billion went through multilateral channels, like development banks and climate funds.

An additional $3.5 billion in private adaptation finance was also mobilised through public initiatives.

The growth in adaptation finance from 2019 to 2022 is due to several factors.

Multilateral finance rose by over 57 per cent, mainly from multilateral development banks (MDBs).

Bilateral aid increased by 47 per cent, and private finance mobilised by public interventions grew by 133 per cent.

Regionally, Africa and Asia received the most funding from 2019 to 2022, with 39 per cent and 37 per cent of the total, respectively.

Latin America and the Caribbean received 13 per cent, while Europe and Oceania each received 2 per cent. Another 7 per cent went to multiple countries or regions.

The report said increased adaptation finance focused on the countries most vulnerable to climate change, especially least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS).

In 2022, LDCs received over $11.2 billion, and SIDS received more than $1.6 billion. From 2019 to 2022, LDCs received an average of $8.87 per person, while SIDS received $20.16 per person.

At this year's UN climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November, countries are required to reach an agreement on new climate finance that developed countries need to provide developing countries, starting in 2025, to fight and adapt to climate change.

Developing and poorer countries see an ambitious new climate finance goal as crucial to increase ambition.

They argue that expecting them to do more, especially when many are still struggling with poverty and inadequate infrastructure amid worsening climate impacts, undermines the principle of equity.

According to the UNFCCC, adopted in 1992, high-income, industrialised nations (referred to as Annex II countries) -- who have historically benefited from industrialisation and contributed the most to greenhouse gas emissions -- are responsible for providing finance and technology to help developing countries combat and adapt to climate change.

These countries include the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and EU member states such as Germany and France.