The Super Bowl of climate politics is almost upon us.
COP30, the UN Climate Change Conference, is about to kick off in Brazil — and expectations are running high for adaptation advocates. Brazilian leaders are fueling that momentum, with COP30 CEO Ana Toni calling the summit a “turning point” for adaptation and resilience.
Once again, the question of finance hangs heavy over the talks. This time around, it’s focused on whether rich countries will commit to a dedicated adaptation finance target, one that would channel much-needed resources to poor nations struggling under a barrage of compounding climate shocks.
Which country groups are pushing for this target? What are the arguments against? And how has the adaptation finance landscape shifted over the last year between COPs?
On today’s episode, Ben Abraham, Senior Consultant at Instituto Talanoa, a leading Brazilian climate policy think tank, provides the answers.
Ben explains why adaptation finance risks “falling off a cliff” without a new collective target, and unpacks the push by Least Developed Countries to triple current commitments to US$120bn a year by 2030. He outlines the political headwinds from donor nations, the tension between grant-based and loan-based finance, and the technical challenges of tracking whether countries are really delivering what they promise.
The interview also ranges into the debate on the role of blended finance and multilateral development banks in driving adaptation, and explores whether private capital will ever become a meaningful contributor to the cause.
Ben closes by sharing his and Instituto Talanoa’s hopes for the summit, along with his vision of what a successful negotiated outcome on adaptation would look like.
Listen below, download from the Podcasts page on Climate Proof, or tune in via Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
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We talk about:
👉 The fight for a new global adaptation finance target, and how Least Developed Countries are pushing to triple finance flows to US$120bn a year by 2030
👉 The resistance from developed countries wary of reopening finance negotiations, and the tension between grant-based versus loan-based climate finance
👉 How slow and inconsistent reporting makes it hard to measure whether countries are meeting past targets, and why better national-level data is critical
👉 Where private capital can realistically contribute to adaptation, and how multilateral development banks could innovate through climate-disaster debt clauses and long-term lending
👉 What success in Belém would look like from an adaptation finance perspective
Thanks for listening!
Louie Woodall
Editor
