Developing countries need USD 365 bn every year by 2035 to adapt to climate change: UN
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New Delhi (PTI): Developing countries will need up to USD 365 billion every year by 2035 to adapt to worsening climate impacts, but the money to protect vulnerable communities is drying up, a new UN report said on Wednesday.
The Adaptation Gap Report 2025 by UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said that adaptation finance flows from rich nations actually fell last year despite repeated pledges to scale up support.
According to the report, developing nations require USD 310 billion annually by 2035 based on modelled costs and USD 365 billion when based on needs listed in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).
However, international public adaptation finance to these countries stood at just USD 26 billion in 2023, down from USD 28 billion in 2022, making the required funds roughly 12 to 14 times higher than current levels.
"172 countries now have adaptation plans but rich nations have offered only lip service, with finance flows decreasing last year," Harjeet Singh, climate activist and the founding director of Satat Sampada Climate Foundation, said.
"This monumental gap, now at least 12 times what is provided, is the direct cause of lost lives, destroyed homes and shattered livelihoods," he said.
The report cautioned that if current trends continue, the Glasgow Climate Pact goal of doubling adaptation finance from 2019 levels by 2025 will not be achieved.
It also said the new collective quantified goal for climate finance, agreed at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, is not ambitious enough to bridge the gap between need and delivery.
Despite contributing the least to global greenhouse gas emissions, developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America are among those facing the most severe climate impacts, from floods and droughts to rising heat stress.
The report said that without urgent action from developed nations to meet their finance obligations, these regions will be forced to bear the growing costs of adaptation largely on their own.
The report, however, noted progress in planning and implementation. Most countries now have at least one national adaptation policy, strategy or plan in place and efforts to integrate climate adaptation into national development planning are improving.
Countries also reported more than 1,600 adaptation actions, largely focused on biodiversity, agriculture, water and infrastructure.
Funding support through multilateral climate funds, including the Green Climate Fund, Global Environment Facility and Adaptation Fund, increased in 2024. However, UNEP warned that rising financial constraints could limit future progress.
The report said that both public and private finance must increase substantially to meet adaptation goals. It estimated that the private sector could contribute around USD 50 billion annually by 2035 if backed by targeted policy measures and blended finance.
It also called for caution against the growing use of loans to finance adaptation in vulnerable countries, saying that a rising share of non-concessional debt threatens to deepen inequalities and trap nations in a cycle of climate-related indebtedness.
UNEP said global adaptation finance must rise sharply if the world is to protect lives, livelihoods and economies from intensifying climate shocks and the burden must not fall on those who did the least to cause the crisis.
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LoP Ashoka targets CM govt over corruption, says being 'shameless' in public life not forgivable
Bengaluru (PTI): Targeting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the Congress government in Karnataka on corruption, BJP leader R Ashoka on Friday said, being foolish was forgivable, but being "shameless" in public life was not.
The Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly claimed that in just 30 months of its tenure, the Congress administration has broken every previous record on corruption-related controversies.
He was responding to Siddaramaiah's post on 'X' on Thursday hitting back at the BJP, stating that Upa Lokayukta Justice Veerappa's claims of "63 per cent corruption" were based on his report in November 2019, when BJP's B S Yediyurappa was the CM.
"But Ashoka, without understanding the Upa Lokayukta's statement properly, has ended up tying the BJP's own bells of sins onto our heads and has effectively shot himself in the foot," the CM had said, as he accused Ashoka of foolishness for trying to twist Veerappa's statement to target the current government.
Responding, Ashoka said, "it is one thing to be called foolish in politics, that can be forgiven."
"But in public life, especially in the Chief Minister's chair, one must never become shameless," Ashoka posted on 'X' on Friday addressing Siddaramaiah.
Noting that the CM himself had admitted on the floor of the Assembly that a Rs 87 crore scam took place in the Valmiki Development Corporation, he said that when a CM acknowledges such a massive irregularity inside the floor of the House, the natural expectation is immediate action and accountability.
"But instead of taking responsibility, you continue in office as if nothing has happened. What should the people of Karnataka call this, if not sheer shamelessness," he asked.
Pointing out that the CM's Economic Advisor and senior Congress MLA Basavaraja Rayareddy had publicly stated that under Congress rule, Karnataka has become No.1 in corruption, Ashoka said, "Yet, you still cling to the Chief Minister's chair without a moment of introspection. What should the people of Karnataka call this, if not sheer shamelessness."
Senior Congress MLA C R Patil had exposed the "money for House" racket in the Housing Department and even warned that the government would collapse if the details he has were made public, Ashoka said.
"Despite such serious allegations from within your own party (Congress), you neither initiated an inquiry nor acted against the concerned minister. What should the people of Karnataka call this, if not sheer shamelessness," Ashoka asked the CM.
Highlighting the "40 percent commission" allegation Congress made against the previous BJP government, the opposition leader said, the commission that the Siddaramaiah government appointed concluded that the accusation was baseless.
"After your own panel demolished your own claim, what moral right do you have to continue repeating that allegation. What should the people of Karnataka call this, if not sheer shamelessness," he asked.
For the last two and a half years, Karnataka has been 'drowning' in corruption, scandals, irregularities and allegations across departments. Ashoka said, "If I begin listing every case that emerged under your government, even 24 hours would not be enough."
"And the most tragic aspect of your administration is this: the unbearable pressure, corruption demands and administrative harassment under your government pushed several officers and contractors into extreme distress - including the suicide of Chandrasekharan which exposed the Valmiki Development Corporation scam - a sign of how deeply broken the system has become under your watch," he said.
Instead of fixing this hopeless environment, the government has tried to bury every complaint and silence every voice, he charged.
"Being foolish is forgivable, but being shameless in public life is definitely not."
"When your own ministers admit scams, when your own advisors certify Karnataka as No.1 in corruption, and when your own MLAs expose rackets inside your departments - clinging to power without accountability is not leadership. It is shamelessness in its purest form." PTI KSU
Earlier on Thursday Ashoka had demanded that the corruption case and allegations in the state against the Congress government be handed over to a CBI investigation, citing a reported statement by Upalokaykta Justice Veerappa alleging "63 per cent corruption", following which Siddaramaiah hit back at the BJP leader.
