ADAPTATION FINANCE GAP (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Economy)

Context: Despite rapidly increasing climate risks which necessitate greater efforts to adapt, the money being made available to developing countries for adaptation measures has recently been declining, and nowhere close to the scale of requirement, a new report by the United Nations has revealed.

Key Points of Report

• About: The Adaptation Gap Report is an annual publication from UNEP, released just ahead of the year-ending climate change conference, and presents the global situation of adaptation to climate change. 

oThis year’s report focuses on adaptation finance, or the availability of money to carry out the adaptation projects.

oThe adaptation finance gap – that is the difference between estimated adaptation financing needs and costs and (existing) finance flows has grown.

• According to report - The adaptation gap is likely 10-18 times as great as current international adaptation finance flows — at least 50 per cent higher than previous range estimates,
• Findings: Most of the developing countries have listed their adaptation requirements in their climate action plans, called Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs.

oThe NDCs seek to document every country’s ‘contribution’ to the global fight against climate change.

Developing Countries

• According to the UN, a developing country is a country with a relatively low standard of living, undeveloped industrial base, and moderate to low Human Development Index (HDI). 

oThis index is a comparative measure of poverty, literacy, education, life expectancy, and other factors for countries worldwide.