Quantifying Adaptation Finance in aPost-2025 Goal: from Political Intent to Operational Clarity

The document highlights a severe imbalance in climate finance, noting that adaptation funding reached only USD 76 billion in 2022, representing barely 5 percent of total flows. It criticizes the lack of quantitative clarity in the NCQG regarding adaptation allocations and proposes several options for setting a credible quantum and institutional home for a post-2025 adaptation finance goal.

• There is a significant disparity between global climate finance flows and the funding allocated for adaptation. While total flows reached USD 1.5–1.6 trillion in 2023, adaptation funding was only USD 76 billion in 2022, which is approximately 5 percent of the total.
• Developing countries face a substantial adaptation finance gap, requiring between USD 215 and 387 billion annually by 2030, while international public finance provided only USD 28 billion in 2022. This gap is worsened by debt-service payments, which are expected to exceed USD 400 billion in 2024, surpassing the upper bound of adaptation needs.
• The Glasgow Climate Pact's goal to double adaptation finance by 2025 from a 2019 baseline (estimated at USD 20.3 billion) suffered from insufficient implementation and a flawed progress report that relied on unverified data and conflated public and private finance.
• Although the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) recognizes the urgency of adaptation, it fails to specify the exact amount of the USD 300 billion or the USD 1.3 trillion end-goal that will be dedicated to adaptation, risking a repeat of previous underdelivery patterns.
• To establish a credible adaptation goal, the document suggests two quantum options: the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group's call to at least triple adaptation finance by 2030 from 2025 levels, or setting a numerical target of at least USD 120 billion annually by 2030, primarily through public, grant-based, or highly concessional resources.

APA

Transforma (n.d.). Quantifying Adaptation Finance in aPost-2025 Goal: from Political Intent to Operational Clarity. https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Adaptation-finance-brief.pdf

Chicago

Transforma. Quantifying Adaptation Finance in aPost-2025 Goal: from Political Intent to Operational Clarity. n.d. https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Adaptation-finance-brief.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Transforma |title=Quantifying Adaptation Finance in aPost-2025 Goal: from Political Intent to Operational Clarity |url=https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Adaptation-finance-brief.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{transformandquantifying, author = {{Transforma}}, title = {{Quantifying Adaptation Finance in aPost-2025 Goal: from Political Intent to Operational Clarity}}, institution = {Transforma}, url = {https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Adaptation-finance-brief.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }