Cost of Adapting to Climate Change in Developing Countries Previously Grossly Underestimated
Failure to cut emissions will dramatically increase the annual costs of adaptation, which could be up to five times higher by 2050 than previously thought.
The cost of adapting to climate change in developing countries could rise to between $280 and $500 billion per year by 2050, a figure that is four to five times greater than previous estimates, according to a new United Nations Environment (UNEP) report.
Released as nations sign the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change, the report assesses the difference between the financial costs of adapting to climate change in developing countries and the amount of money actually available to meet these costs - a difference known as the "adaptation finance gap".
The report, the second in UNEP's series of Adaptation Gap reports, finds that total bilateral and multilateral funding for climate change adaptation in developing countries has risen substantially in the five years leading up to 2014, reaching $22.5 billion. But the report warns that, despite this increase, there will be a significant funding gap by 2050 unless new and additional finance for adaptation is made available.
Linh Do