Beyond COP 30: Scaling Climate Adaptation for a More Livable Planet

“COP 30 is over, but our work is not,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said after the climate talks ended. He went on to acknowledge one of COP 30’s biggest wins: “COP 30 has delivered progress –– including a call to triple adaptation finance by 2035 as a first step towards closing the adaptation gap.”

The UN Climate Change Conference brought together the global climate community to decide how to adapt to save our planet and protect communities. Mere weeks before COP 30, the UN Environment Programme’s Adaptation Gap Report updated its estimate of the cost of adaptation finance needed in developing countries to $284–339 billion per year by 2035. International public adaptation finance flows to developing countries were $26 billion in 2023, the last year for which data is available –– highlighting the need to rapidly scale up funding for adaptation in developing countries.

I sat down with our Senior Advisor on Climate Adaptation and Resilience, Cristina Rumbaitis del Rio, upon her return from Belém to hear her reflections on COP 30 outcomes and the determined efforts of the climate adaptation community.

The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Reflections on COP 30

Faith: What theme or outcome stood out to you the most in Belém?

Cristina: The united call for tripling adaptation finance by 2035 was one of the most significant achievements out of COP 30. This marked a true turning point for climate adaptation to be seen as a critical issue that requires ambitious global action.

Climate adaptation is a matter of life or death for the 3.36–3.6 billion people living in contexts highly vulnerable to climate change. The momentum out of COP 30 is a credit to the adaptation community, which demanded that adaptation and resilience receive greater attention in climate discussions. With these outcomes in place, I hope to see adaptation continue to be a key part of future COP agendas.

Climate Adaptation is a Priority 

Faith: How did COP 30 help scale climate financing?

Cristina: The Mutirão decision, which gets its name from the Brazilian term for mutualism and cooperation, served as a lever by calling for the tripling of adaptation finance by 2035. If successful, this plan will provide $120 billion per year for adaptation by 2035 –– responding to the stark calls for scaled financing from the Least Developed Countries Group on Climate Change and other stakeholders. While the new adaptation financing target falls short of what some parties had hoped for, it is a significant step forward especially as the previous Glasgow-era targets, set at COP 26, expire this year.

It’s also important to point out the relevance of Secretary-General Guterres using his final news conference at COP 30 to call for the tripling of adaptation finance. These are all ambitious signals that we should celebrate out of COP 30.

Faith: Leaders agreed on a set of voluntary indicators to measure progress on the Global Goal on Adaptation. How did this climate summit lay the groundwork for better implementation in the future?

Cristina: It is a massive accomplishment for our planet and multilateral community to come together and agree on the future of climate action. Nearly 200 countries agreed on 59 indicators for the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), and several forward-looking workstreams on adaptation. The work is quite complex and will take time to unpack as countries begin using and refining the indicators, implementing the UAE targets for global climate resilience set at COP 28, and measuring progress against the UAE targets.

Each country will have its own way of implementing the indicators to account for the needs and resilience of their communities. These indicators are an important tool to keep governments accountable because the global community can track where it is falling behind on climate adaptation action and support. As a global community, we will need to quickly put the 59 indicators to use as the Global Stocktake process –– which assesses collective progress on climate action under the Paris Agreement –– begins next year and culminates in 2028. Even if all the indicators are not perfect, the global community could not afford to wait any longer to agree on some of them at COP 30.

The Future of Climate Action

Faith: Calls for greater implementation on climate often seem to go unanswered or ignored. Despite the slow pace and disappointment, what gives you hope?

Cristina: I understand the disappointment in the climate community about the slow pace of implementation and the need to go faster. I agree that we need to accelerate our efforts. But I firmly believe that the UN Climate Change Conferences are still the best forum to increase momentum. It’s where every country has an equal voice. Even though the process in Belém was messy, countries had the platform to object and raise their opinions on issues that they believe still need to be addressed –– and many were doing so even in the closing plenary.

In addition to the rallying spirit of the delegates, what gives me hope right now is everyone I met at COP, and beyond. They are doing the hard work to make the world a fairer, greener, more livable, and prosperous place. I am deeply inspired by the young activists I have engaged with, especially hearing their stories and seeing the passion behind the ideas they bring to the table. Young people are showing up with a sense of urgency and commitment that serves as a reminder that we should be uplighting and working alongside them. The momentum is there; it’s up to us to continue fighting for the future we want to see.