COP30 Secures US$58.5 Million in New Adaptation Fund Pledges

The final week of COP30 opened with a collective pledge of US$58.5 million to the Adaptation Fund, as six countries—Belgium, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Spain and Sweden—announced new contributions during Monday’s high-level dialogue on adaptation finance. Spain committed US$23.2 million, the largest single pledge, while Iceland contributed US$700,000, the smallest of the group.

The session marked one of the key high-level events that traditionally bring together ministers and senior officials to address outstanding financing issues. Despite the fresh pledges, uncertainty remains around Germany’s contribution, historically the Fund’s largest donor. “Germany announced that it will also contribute but has not provided a figure yet. We are eagerly awaiting the Minister to speak at this afternoon’s high-level session,” said Joe Thwaites, senior international climate finance advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Operational since 2009, the Adaptation Fund was created under the UNFCCC to support resilience projects in countries most vulnerable to climate impacts. Germany has played a central role in its development, contributing roughly US$700 million and providing an average of US$60 million annually in recent years. In 2021, its contribution reached US$58.2 million, followed by more than US$60 million per year from 2022 to 2024. Thwaites said he expects a donation of similar size this year once the government confirms its pledge.

To date, the Adaptation Fund has received about US$1.7 billion, with most contributions made in the past decade. While the newly announced US$58.5 million represents a small fraction of the roughly US$27 billion that developed countries allocate annually to adaptation finance, experts highlight the Fund’s effectiveness in channeling resources.

“The Adaptation Fund’s money manages to reach projects that larger funds miss along the way,” Thwaites said, noting that its grant-based model ensures resources flow directly to communities implementing on-the-ground resilience efforts.

Still, recent trends point to declining support. Annual donations have fallen from US$356 million in 2021 to US$133 million in 2024. The latest pledges, while symbolically important, remain far below the scale of global needs. The UN Development Programme estimates that developing countries face an adaptation finance gap of roughly US$310 billion per year.

Seeking to address these shortfalls, COP30 host Brazil unveiled a roadmap to raise US$1.3 trillion a year by 2035 to help developing countries address the impacts of climate change. At COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, developed nations committed in the final document to providing US$300 billion per year through 2035 to help less developed countries tackle climate change. This goal, known as the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), also includes a broader target: it calls on all actors to work toward mobilizing US$1.3 trillion in international climate finance over the same period—an amount that specialists say is much closer to what developing countries need.

To advance this goal, a group of diplomats coordinated by André Corrêa do Lago, Brazilian Ambassador and President, COP30, and Mukhtar Babayev, President, COP29 in Azerbaijan, pledged to chart a roadmap to reach this figure. In this context, the Baku to Belem Roadmap was published on Nov. 5, six days later than the initially announced release date of Oct. 30.

The document outlines five priority areas through 2035, each supported by specific action points: replenishment of subsidies, concessional finance and low-cost capital; rebalancing fiscal space and debt sustainability; redirecting transformative private finance and reducing the cost of capital; restructuring capacity and coordination for large-scale climate portfolios; and redesigning systems and structures for equitable capital flows.

Together, these efforts aim to ensure that climate finance reaches at least US$1.3 trillion annually, expanding access for developing countries and strengthening outcomes in key areas such as adaptation, loss and damage, clean energy, nature, food systems, and just transitions. “To accelerate the implementation of the Paris Agreement, climate action must be integrated with concrete economic and financial reforms. With the 5Rs, the roadmap translates scientific urgency into a practical plan for global cooperation and effective results,” said Corrêa do Lago.