The following is a transcript of a speech delivered by UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell during the UNEP Adaptation Gap Report side event at COP28.
Dear Inger,
Colleagues,
Friends,
Underfinanced. Unprepared. The title of this year's Adaptation Gap report says it all.
Calling it a "gap" now seems to be an underestimate. A chasm, a gorge - ever-widening - sounds more appropriate.
This is the sobering reality that confronts us.
And yet adaptation still struggles to compete with mitigation efforts - for attention, for prioritization, for funding.
Adaptation and Mitigation is not an either/or.
Both must be the equal focus of our attention and action.
Alarmingly, the Global Stocktake demonstrates that, rather than accelerating, progress on adaptation is stagnating.
Colleagues,
I am solutions oriented. The bad news is not a reason to despair and slow down. For me, it spurs action.
To plug the Adaptation gap, or chasm, we must address two main issues: policy and finance.
We have a real opportunity at this COP, through the GST, to commit to accelerated action across all aspects of the climate agenda, including adaptation.
We must agree a new framework for the global goal on adaptation. The Goal will allow us to measure our success in addressing climate change impacts.
Impacts that already affect us or that lie ahead.
Now let's come to the elephant in the room: money.
I trust you, like me, wholeheartedly welcome the historic agreement at the beginning of this COP to operationalize the loss and damage fund.
An important step, a welcome addition to the international financial architecture for climate change.
But it is in no way a replacement for, or a reason to diminish the urgent need for the scaling-up of adaptation finance.
At the risk of over-simplifying, the loss and damage fund will in part address the consequences of our failure to adapt. That is an expensive self-goal.
Adaptation is about preparedness and strengthening resilience. Taking precautions before it is too late.
In Glasgow, we agreed to at least double the provision of adaptation finance from 2019 levels by 2025.
The new report on doubling adaptation finance - published by the UNFCCC Standing Committee on Finance last month, does the math.
It estimates that adaptation finance will reach some 40 billion dollars a year by 2025. That's dramatically short of the up to 387 billion developing countries will need every year.
Adaptation finance therefore needs to be scaled up significantly.
We need to broaden the pool of contributors. Bring in the private sector. International financial institutions need to step up.
Funding must be underpinned by access, affordability, and urgency. Countries want grants, not loans.
Their foresight and initiatives to adapt to climate change must not be punished with crushing debt.
Adaptation is an investment in our futures, not an admission of defeat.
Let us give it the money and attention it deserves. Let's bridge the gap, it's time to close the chasm.
Thank you.
