UN: Nations must ‘urgently’ boost climate funds, vulnerable countries among those most impacted by crisis

PARIS — Climate change impacts battering vulnerable countries threaten to outstrip efforts to adapt to global warming, the UN warns, with international funding help up to ten times below what is needed.

Many emerging economies least to blame for the fossil-fuel gases that stoke global warming are also among the most exposed to climate impacts, such as worsening drought, floods and cyclones.

Funding to help them adapt to accelerating impacts and curb emissions is one of the thorniest issues at UN climate negotiations, which will begin their latest round in Egypt on Sunday.

Wealthy nations have failed to provide all of a pledged $100 billion a year to developing nations, reaching just $83 billion in 2020.

Only a part of that — $29 billion — was for adaptation, which the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) warns in a new report was five to 10 times below the estimated needs.

Last week the UN warned the world was nowhere near the Paris Agreement target of capping warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

As the world warms, impacts increase and so too do the costs of preparing for them.

UNEP revised up its adaptation estimates from a year earlier, saying countries will now need $160 billion to $340 billion by 2030 to strengthen their resilience, rising to $315 billion and $565 billion by 2050.