Private capital is available for climate investment, yet it is not reaching adaptation at the scale the opportunity suggests. Developing countries could need US$310–365 billion a year by 2035 for adaptation, while international public adaptation finance was only US$26 billion in 2023. Private sources account for just 3–8% of reported adaptation finance.
The white paper Lost in Translation argues that part of the answer is informational. Financial institutions find it hard to turn national adaptation priorities into financial propositions they can assess, price and defend. Developed with input by members of the Community of Practice on Impact Measurement and Information Flows, it identifies four types of information that can make adaptation financeable: Physical climate risk, allocation of finance, adaptation impact, and financial performance. The paper includes a foreword by Ms. Chizuru Aoki, Head, Multilateral Environmental Agreements and Funds at the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and a translation matrix to identify the information gaps and the most adequate partnerships to close them.
Lost in Translation: Policy Brief is addressed to governments, public and development financiers, and GEF Agencies. It sets out four areas for consideration, with an indicative short-, medium- and longer-term sequence:
- Support improvements in the availability and quality of physical climate risk data.
- Give financial institutions clear reference points for allocating finance to adaptation.
- Establish common frameworks for measuring adaptation impact.
- Use public and development finance to build the evidence on financial performance.
Related resources
The white paper complements the Adaptation Finance Taxonomy Playbook and the Adaptation and Resilience Impact Measurement Toolkit, both developed by the same community of practice which gathered over 4000 participants across all activities over the last two years.
These resources have been developed under the Climate Adaptation Innovation and Learning project. This project is financed by the Global Environment Facility and implemented by UNIDO, in partnership with Climate KIC, the Global Adaptation and Resilience Investment Working Group, and UNEP FI. We are developing a unique knowledge platform for climate adaptation–a hub to drive innovation and boost private sector engagement.