Leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) nations reinforced the need for increased adaptation finance from public and private sources following an agreement at COP30 to triple funds by 2035.
The Leaders’ Declaration published following a two-day summit hosted by South Africa recognised the need for greater investment to support the goals of the Paris Agreement. It also emphasised the importance of “mainstreaming adaptation into relevant public policy” and channelling finance to support resilience to climate change from multiple sources.
“We encourage the global community, including donors, international financial institutions, development banks and the private sector, to address post-disaster recovery and reconstruction and adaptation, disaster mitigation, preparedness and rebuilding measures,” It said.
“This should be done in ways that promote sustainable resilience, particularly for developing countries and those most vulnerable, respecting their national circumstances and priorities.”
The G20 announcement followed COP30’s final agreement – reached after an extra day of negotiations – which supported a tripling of adaptation finance, but failed to formally endorse a framework for reducing fossil fuel dependency.
According to the UN’s annual Adaptation Gap Report, the cost of adaptation finance needed by developing countries will be US$310 billion per year in 2035. The report said international public adaptation finance flows to developing countries were US$26 billion in 2023. It estimated potential private sector adaptation finance flows at US$50 billion per year “if backed by targeted policy action and blended finance solutions”.
COP30 also saw the adoption of the Belém Adaptation Indicators to track progress towards the 11 global adaptation targets, which would provide “a basis for a more comprehensive coverage of adaptation in the second Global Stocktake,” according to Professor Lord Nicholas Stern, Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the Global School of Sustainability at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
G20 Leaders have prioritised climate change adaptation through 2025 under the South African Presidency, as part of a broader agenda of resilience to natural disasters and catastrophes. The G20 presidency for 2026 will be held by the United States, which did not attend last weekend’s summit.
“Combined with the outcome to triple adaptation finance made at COP30, the [G20 declaration’s] focus on finding financial solutions for both resilience building and accelerating the transition shows that there remains a commitment to the role of international support in driving sustainable development,” said Rob Moore, Associate Director, Public Banks & Development at think tank E3G.
