The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has warned in its latest and recent report that the world is “woefully unprepared” for the economic impact of climate change. With the havoc caused by Storm Ciaran as a backdrop, UNEP warns that international financing for adaptation barely reaches 5% or 10% of the needs to prevent damage caused by heat waves, droughts and floods.
The UN estimates that the money needed for adaptation in the most vulnerable countries should be between 200,000 and 360,000 million euros in the next decade. Financing, however, fell by 15% and below 20 billion euros in 2021, despite the commitment made at COP26 in Glasgow to reach at least 37 billion euros annually in 2025.
Aid for adaptation to climate change will be one of the key points at COP28 which will be held starting November 30 in the United Arab Emirates. The Dubai summit is also expected to close with the creation of the mechanism for financing damages and losses for developing countries, agreed in extremis at COP27 in Sharm-el-Sheikh.
Experts estimate that 2023 can set a new record for average temperature on the planet, ahead of 2016, after the extreme summer marked by the devastating fires in Canada and Hawaii and the impact of Storm Daniel in Greece and Libya (where it caused more than 4,500 deaths and losses estimated at more than 20 billion euros).