The presidency of the Climate Change Conference (COP28) has asserted the critical need to boost large-scale adaptation measures to reduce vulnerabilities and enhance resilience. This comes with the acknowledgment that climate change is already impacting lives and livelihoods globally, particularly in developing and vulnerable communities.
The conference presidency noted that current progress is uneven and disproportionately distributed worldwide. Future adaptation efforts must be transformative and responsive to needs, recognizing the efforts of developing countries despite facing challenges.
COP28’s leadership stressed the urgency of addressing the adaptation finance gap, estimated at approximately $366 billion annually. Doubling adaptation funding by 2025 is a step in the right direction, but there is a need for a significant increase in total adaptation funding.
This includes improving access to grants and extremely concessional financing for all developing countries. Other means of implementation, particularly technology transfer and capacity building, are fundamental to enhancing resilience and ensuring no one is left behind.
The presidency highlighted the need for all countries to urgently enhance measures to strengthen adaptation. It’s crucial to significantly increase the capabilities and resources of developing countries, especially focusing on vulnerable nations, through developing and implementing national action programs in a way that supports sustainable development. Adaptation actions should consider priority and climate-sensitive areas, including the protection, preservation, and restoration of water networks, agriculture and food security, and health.
The conference emphasized that natural ecosystems play a vital role in adaptation measures through ecosystem-based solutions, with a particular focus on the need for more attention and dialogue regarding water and mountain areas. Adopting the framework of the Global Goal on Adaptation, with its themes and indicators, is essential to address implementation gaps in all countries.
Intensifying global efforts to avoid, minimize, and address losses and damages at local, national, regional, and international levels, including comprehensive risk management and enhancing early warning systems, is crucial.
Concluding with the activation of arrangements for financing losses and damages, and funds at the opening of COP28, marked a significant milestone and contributed to building momentum towards impactful outcomes in all areas.
