Reforming climate finance: adaptation finance in Africa

This briefing by Zero Carbon Analytics, written with Africa Climate Insights, examines the critical shortfall in climate adaptation finance for Africa and developing nations. It argues that public finance must remain the primary driver of adaptation due to the 'less bankable' nature of adaptation projects compared to mitigation and the high debt distress in African economies.

• International public adaptation finance flows from developed to developing countries decreased from USD 28 billion in 2022 to USD 26 billion in 2023, meaning the Glasgow Climate Pact goal of doubling funding to USD 40 billion by 2025 is unlikely to be met.
• There is a significant gap between the adaptation finance needs of Sub-Saharan Africa and the actual flows received; the region requires USD 51 billion annually, but only received USD 12.9 billion in 2023.
• Public funding is the dominant source of adaptation finance in Africa, accounting for 95% of all funding in 2023. Private sector contributions, while growing, represented only 5% of the total, with non-philanthropic private debt and equity making up just 0.3%.
• Adaptation projects are more difficult to finance than mitigation because they are typically smaller, localised, and lack standardised metrics or predictable returns, making them 'less bankable' for private investors.
• Structural and procedural barriers hinder the delivery of funds in Africa; between 2014 and 2018, less than half of committed adaptation funds were actually disbursed due to coordination challenges and insufficient institutional capacity.
• High levels of debt distress in Africa necessitate the use of grants and concessional instruments, as approximately 57% of the population lives in countries that spend more on debt interest than on health or education.
• Tracking adaptation finance is complicated by 'dual use cases' where projects provide both adaptation and mitigation benefits, as well as a lack of standardised metrics and geographical uncertainty.

APA

Kong, A. (2025). Reforming climate finance: adaptation finance in Africa. Zero Carbon Analytics. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/reforming-climate-finance-adaptation-finance-in-africa/

Chicago

Kong, Amy. Reforming climate finance: adaptation finance in Africa. Zero Carbon Analytics, 2025. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/reforming-climate-finance-adaptation-finance-in-africa/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kong |first1=Amy |title=Reforming climate finance: adaptation finance in Africa |publisher=Zero Carbon Analytics |date=14 November 2025 |url=https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/reforming-climate-finance-adaptation-finance-in-africa/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kong2025reforming, author = {Kong, Amy}, title = {{Reforming climate finance: adaptation finance in Africa}}, institution = {Zero Carbon Analytics}, year = {2025}, month = nov, url = {https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/reforming-climate-finance-adaptation-finance-in-africa/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }