Adaptation Gap Report 2022
United Nations Environment Programme
Abstract
Climate change is landing blow after blow upon humanity, as we saw time and again throughout 2022: most viscerally in the catastrophic floods that put much of Pakistan under water. These are the kinds of climate impacts we are suffering at only 1.1°C above pre-industrial temperatures. We are heading for much higher temperatures: 2.8°C by the end of the century, based on current policies. The international community must urgently reduce greenhouse gas emissions through a transformation of energy, industry, transport, food systems, financial systems and so much more. However, as the 2022 edition of UNEP’s Adaptation Gap Report: Too Little, Too Slow finds, we must also urgently increase efforts to adapt to the impacts of climate change that are already here and to those that are to come. The report finds that global efforts in adaptation planning, financing and implementation are increasing incrementally. However, they are not keeping pace with increasing climate risks. Yes, over 80 per cent of countries have at least one national adaptation planning instrument in place. But funding to turn planning into action isn’t following.