INTERNATIONAL DESK — Despite an opening statement by Turkiye’s presidency – of making the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP31) in Antalya an ‘implementation COP’ – the negotiators from rich countries have seemed reluctant to include a delivery plan for adaptation finance in line with COP30’s call for efforts to at least triple adaptation finance, marking $1.3 trillion a year by 2035, as an agenda item. The documents placed at COP31 also ignore debt-sensitive climate finance in line with the Baku-to-Belem Roadmap on debt constraints – grants, not loans, a financed water and cryosphere package covering inland water and mountain ecosystems, a negotiated timeframe for fossil-fuel transition and predictable funding for loss and damage.
Speaking at COP31, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned against a super-sized El Nino that has already caused heatwaves even in Europe and a glacier collapse in Nepal and called for serious climate action, faster emission cuts, a just transition from fossil fuels, and finance and protection for vulnerable countries. An EU official had already warned that there would be ‘no political will’ for extra funding pledges. Developing countries were pledged approximately $305 billion annually by 2035 to address escalating climate vulnerabilities and build resilience.
According to the UN Environment Programme Adaptation Gap Report 2026, global public adaptation finance reaches only about $28.2 billion to $31.7 billion per year, leaving a massive shortfall where developing nations receive roughly 10 cents for every dollar they need. Even if global goals to triple public adaptation finance by 2035 are met, this would only cover 20-29 per cent of the total estimated requirement. Failing on these important counts calls for reforming the COP negotiation and implementation processes.