Toward Implementation

The 2017 AdaptationWatch report argues that the Paris Agreement has shifted climate policy into an era of implementation, yet significant gaps remain in adaptation finance and transparency. It highlights that adaptation funding is overwhelmingly lower than mitigation funding and is often difficult for the most vulnerable nations to access due to complex accreditation processes and a lack of clear definitions distinguishing adaptation from general development. The report examines regional experiences, noting that while Latin American and Caribbean countries have made progress in institutional frameworks and GCF Readiness, Southeast Asia faces a disconnect between global finance scales and local needs. It also identifies a critical lack of compliance and standardized methodology in the Biennial Update Reports (BURs) of non-Annex I Parties, which obscures the actual amount of finance received. The document concludes with ten recommendations, emphasizing the need for increased adaptation finance, co-designing actions with local communities, and reorienting capacity building toward long-term, in-country ownership.

• There is a substantial imbalance between global climate finance for mitigation and adaptation; of USD 391 billion in total flows, only 6% (USD 25 billion) was dedicated to adaptation, while 92% (USD 361 billion) went to mitigation.
• Least Developed Countries (LDCs) face significant barriers in accessing the Green Climate Fund (GCF) due to complex accreditation and a reliance on international agencies; only 14% of approved funds went to direct access entities (NIEs and RIEs), while 86% went to international entities (MIEs).
• In Southeast Asia, there is a disconnect between the top-down scale of global climate finance governance and the local scale where adaptation action occurs, often resulting in a lack of 'bankable' projects that meet global criteria while addressing immediate local needs.
• Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries have demonstrated progress in adaptation governance through the use of GCF Readiness programs and the creation of national policies, such as the Mother Earth Framework Law in Bolivia and the Climate Change Law in Guatemala.
• Climate finance tracking in Latin America is hindered by discrepancies between different reporting sources; for example, the Biennial Assessment reported USD 2.53 billion from MDBs for 2013-2014, while MDB joint reports declared USD 4.68 billion for 2014 alone.
• Transparency regarding climate finance received by non-Annex I Parties is extremely low; as of July 2017, only 37 non-Annex I Parties had submitted their first Biennial Update Report (BUR), and only two of 32 analyzed parties fully complied with UNFCCC transparency requirements.
• Capacity building for adaptation is often undermined by 'capacity substitution,' where a reliance on external consultants and experts inhibits the development of in-house expertise within recipient countries, as seen in disaster risk management in Bangladesh.

APA

Adams, K. M., & Falzon, D. (2017). Toward Implementation. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-2017-AdaptationWatch-toward-implementation.pdf

Chicago

Adams, Kevin M., and Danielle Falzon. Toward Implementation. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2017. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-2017-AdaptationWatch-toward-implementation.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Adams |first1=Kevin M. |last2=Falzon |first2=Danielle |title=Toward Implementation |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=November 2017 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-2017-AdaptationWatch-toward-implementation.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{adams2017toward, author = {Adams, Kevin M. and Falzon, Danielle}, title = {{Toward Implementation}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2017}, month = nov, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-2017-AdaptationWatch-toward-implementation.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }