Elisabeth Gilmore

1. Findings from IPCC Working Group II to Inform
Finance Needs for Adaptation
Elisabeth Gilmore
Presenting on behalf of the IPCC Working Group II Author Team
SIXTH ASSESSMENT REPORT
Working Group II – Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability

2. Adaptation that integrated across sectors, coordinated between regions and
people, and addressing systemic vulnerabilities now and into the future,
reduces risks, provides co-benefits, and supports the achievement of the SDGs
SIXTH ASSESSMENT REPORT
Working Group II – Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
Yuichi Ishida/UNDP Timor-Leste_CC BY-NY 2.0; MEDEA Malmö_Flickr_CC BY 2.0; India Water Portal CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Community-based mangrove
restoration
Urban agriculture in low-
income communities
Sanitation and basic services and
advancing women’s empowerment

3. Assessing need and adaptation costs
• As risks continue to mount since AR5, assessments of
the gap between estimated costs of adaptation and
tracked adaptation-focused finance has widened
• As adaptation options often have long
implementation times, long-term planning and
accelerated implementation, particularly in the next
decade, is important to close gaps
• The total costs of adaptation are higher in developed
countries as more assets are exposed, but the
adaptation costs are higher as a proportion of
national income for developing countries
SIXTH ASSESSMENT REPORT
Working Group II – Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
Nasif Ahmed_UNDP Bangladesh_CC BY-NC-ND; ryan-
parker-unsplash.jpg

4. Financial constraints are limiting adaptation
• As climate risks continue to mount, soft
limits to some human adaptation have
been reached.
• Soft limits can be overcome by
addressing a range of constraints,
primarily financial, governance,
institutional and policy constraints
• Financial constraints are important
determinants of soft limits to adaptation
across sectors and all regions
Figure TS.7: VULNERABILITY: The ability of actors to overcome these socio-economic constraints largely influences whether additional adaptation is able to be
implemented and prevent limits to adaptation from being reached. Low: <20% of assessed literature identifies this constraint; Medium: 20–40% of assessed
literature identies this constraint; High: >40% of assessed literature identifies this constraint. {9.3, 16.4.3, Figure 16.8}
SIXTH ASSESSMENT REPORT
Working Group II – Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability

5. Climate impacts are increasing financial constraints
• Adverse climate impacts has already reduces the
availability of financial resources, particularly for
developing and least developed countries
• Incurring losses and damages
• Impeding national economic growth
• Some extreme weather events, such as tropical cyclones,
have reduced economic growth in the short-term
• Patterns of settlement and siting of infrastructure have
contributed to the exposure of more assets to extreme
climate hazards, increasing the magnitude of losses
SIXTH ASSESSMENT REPORT
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Hurricane Irma_NLRC via IFRC; milind-
ruparel-unsplash

6. The critical role of public finance
Adaptation finance has come
predominantly from public sources
• Global tracked climate finance has
shown an upward trend since AR5.
• The overwhelming majority of
global tracked climate finance is
targeted to mitigation while a small
proportion was targeted to
adaptation
Public finance is an important enabler of
adaptation and can leverage private sources
• Public mechanisms and finance can
leverage private sector finance for
adaptation
• Addressing real and perceived regulatory,
cost and market barriers, for example via
public-private partnerships.
SIXTH ASSESSMENT REPORT
Working Group II – Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability

7. Accessing and enabling adaptation finance
• Enhanced mobilization of and access to
financial resources are essential
• Building capacity and removing barriers to
accessing finance is fundamental to accelerate
adaptation, especially for vulnerable groups,
regions and sectors
• Public and private finance instruments include
grants, guarantee, equity, concessional debt,
market debt, internal budget allocation, savings
in households and insurance
India Water Portal CC BY-NC-SA
SIXTH ASSESSMENT REPORT
Working Group II – Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability

8. Adaptation does not prevent all losses and damages
SIXTH ASSESSMENT REPORT
Working Group II – Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
• Adaptation does not prevent all losses
and damages, even with effective
adaptation and before reaching soft and
hard limits.
• Losses and damages are unequally
distributed across systems, regions and
sectors
• Losses and damage not comprehensively
addressed by current financial,
governance and institutional
arrangements, particularly in vulnerable
developing countries
'Losses and damages' refers to “harm from
(observed) impacts and (projected) risks
and can be economic or noneconomic.”
- IPCC Glossary
Denis Onyodi/KRCS_CC BY-NC 2.0_02.jpg

9. SIXTH ASSESSMENT REPORT
Working Group II – Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
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Thank you!
IPCC Working Group II Author Team