Beyond 1.5°C: Leaders Gather to Confront the New Climate Reality During the 81st UN General Assembly

Today, the United Nations Foundation, DanChurchAid, E3G, and Talanoa Institute convened a high-level event “Adapting to the new climate reality: Why accelerating impacts demand new responses,” moderated by Megan Rowling, Editor of Climate Home News, during High-level Week of the 81st UN General Assembly.

The Director of the Office of Climate Change at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) opened the dialogue, urging the international community to respond with adaptation and action on loss-and-damage financing as climate impacts grow. Representatives from governments, multilateral funds, businesses, and civil society shared perspectives on what countries and international institutions must deliver ahead of COP 31.

The critical conversation comes as communities worldwide confront floods, droughts, and extreme heat. Speakers from the Prime Minister of Nepal’s Office discussed the recent floods and landslides in Nepal, triggered by glacial collapse, sharing that they have taken over 1,000 lives — with more than 6,000 people still missing — and left the country with an estimated $5 billion recovery bill. Nepal estimates that implementing adaptation priorities could require $18 to $20 billion in international climate finance between 2025 and 2035.

“Working on the Rasuwa flood response taught me that this crisis is far beyond what any one country can control. Mountains sustain ecosystems and communities far beyond their borders, from the forests on their slopes to the rivers and farmlands downstream. Protecting them is our shared responsibility,” said Prakriti Dhakal, Personal Under Secretary, Office of the Prime Minister of Nepal. “Our ask is clear: adequate, predictable, and long-term finance for adaptation and loss and damage, technology development and transfer, and sustained capacity-building, so that recovery becomes lasting resilience.”

Compounding these real-world impacts, a new report from UNEP concludes that temporarily exceeding the 1.5°C temperature limit is now unavoidable. Despite this, keeping the 1.5°C goal remains critical, as every fraction of a degree above it escalates the risks of extreme weather, irreversible losses, and dangerous tipping points.

“Adapting to yesterday’s climate projections won’t protect us from today’s climate reality, much less tomorrow’s. UNEP’s report is a stark warning. The good news is we have effective adaptation and resilience approaches that can save lives and protect livelihoods –– if we deploy them,” said Pete Ogden, Vice President of Climate and Environment, UN Foundation. “Scaling adaptation finance now is an urgent, strategic imperative for global stability, shared prosperity, and human security.”

Climate adaptation and resilience solutions exist and must be deployed at scale for communities to plan today, and for what is to come. In a world transformed by climate change, adaptation becomes the heartbeat of innovation and development to protect lives and livelihoods on every continent.

To view the full livestreamed event, please visit here.

NOTE TO EDITORS

Quotes for Additional Reporting:

• Mattias Söderberg, Global Climate Lead, DanChurchAid, said: “The UNEP report presents us with an uncomfortable truth: Exceeding 1.5°C is now unavoidable. But this must not lead to resignation. On the contrary, it makes every fraction of a degree — and every adaptation investment — even more important. We must cut emissions rapidly while preparing for impacts that can no longer be avoided. For vulnerable communities, adaptation is not an abstract climate policy. It is about whether people can remain in their homes, protect their livelihoods, and face the future with security and dignity.”
• Kaysie Brown, Associate Director of Climate Diplomacy and Geopolitics, E3G, said: “Last month was the Earth’s hottest August on record. Extreme heat, wildfires, floods, and droughts are causing widespread damage, and more is to come as El Niño intensifies. Climate change is not a distant threat but is happening now, reshaping economies, societies, and political stability. Investing in adaptation and resilience is an investment in security, stability, and prosperity and requires scaling up climate finance, particularly for countries facing the greatest risks but the least fiscal space to respond. No country can tackle this challenge alone and leaders must confront this new reality with urgency.”
• Natalie Unterstell, President, Talanoa Institute, said: “Crossing 1.5°C is not simply another climate milestone. It means that the assumptions behind our infrastructure, public budgets and development plans are becoming dangerously obsolete. Governments must now do two things at once: cut emissions fast enough to limit the overshoot, and redesign economies for conditions already arriving. Adaptation can no longer be treated as the small, underfunded branch of climate policy.”
• Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, Freetown, Sierra Leone, said: “The short-term cost of investing in resilient infrastructure will be outweighed by the medium- and long-term benefit that infrastructure will deliver.”
• Manjeet Dhakal, Advisor, LDC Group said: “Nepal’s Himalayan catastrophe is a stark warning of the new climate reality. Rapid warming is destabilizing glaciers, permafrost, and mountain slopes, while communities may have only minutes to respond. Adaptation and early warning remain essential, but they cannot eliminate every risk. Deep and immediate emissions cuts must limit further warming, while predictable adaptation finance builds resilience. When impacts exceed those limits, rapid, accessible, and grant-based loss-and-damage finance must support recovery, long-term resilience building, and human security.”

About the Organizers

UN Foundation: The United Nations Foundation has built novel innovations and partnerships to support the United Nations and help solve global problems at scale for over 25 years. As an independent charitable organization, the Foundation was created to work closely with the United Nations to address humanity’s greatest challenges and drive global progress. Learn more at: www.unfoundation.org.

DanChurchAid: DanChurchAid works globally on climate action, from Copenhagen to Harare, Phnom Penh to Bamako, and from local villages and forests to international conference halls and government offices. DCA witnesses daily the worsening impacts of climate change and environmental degradation, which disproportionately affect the most vulnerable communities, and is committed to supporting people not only to cope with and recover from crises but to adapt, address root causes, and advance climate justice. Learn more at: https://www.danchurchaid.org/.

E3G: E3G is an independent think tank working to deliver a safe climate for all. We drive systemic action on climate by identifying barriers and constructing coalitions to advance the solutions needed. We create spaces for honest dialogue, and help guide governments, businesses and the public on how to deliver change at the page the planet demands. Learn more at: https://www.e3g.org or email [email protected].

Talanoa Institute: Talanoa Institute is an independent, non-profit climate policy think tank based in Brazil. Inspired by the Pacific tradition of Talanoa (coming together to address difficult issues and find shared solutions) the Institute connects Brazilian expertise and perspectives with global climate debates, fostering cooperation across governments, civil society, academia, and the private sector. Its vision is to help position Brazil as a leading force in a just transition to zero emissions while contributing to stronger collective responses to the global climate crisis. Learn more at: https://institutotalanoa.org/en.