A group of seventeen leading philanthropic funders signed a call to action that commits to accelerated progress and action on climate adaptation and resilience, seeking to bolster government and private sector action at and after COP28.
In addition to scaling up climate mitigation, philanthropy must also accelerate work to help countries and communities adapt to the impacts of climate change from unprecedented weather patterns and global warming that threatens the survival of communities around the world. With 3.6 billion people in developing countries already highly vulnerable to climate change’s worst effects, and climate-related risks continuing to grow, philanthropy needs a step change to increase adaptation and resilience.
The adaptation finance gap is significant, with low-income countries requiring at least US$215 billion per year this decade while current international public finance flows cover only 10% of these adaptation costs. Philanthropy can act as a critical catalyst to help unlock greater public and private sector funding and investment, champion climate innovation at local and government levels, and drive systems change at the scale needed to support a climate-resilient world.
The diverse group of philanthropic organizations commits to increasing shared learning and developing coordinated strategies to reduce climate vulnerability. They will:
- Work together to increase learning, coordination, investment, and overall impact to advance climate change adaptation and build climate resilience.
- Develop coordinated strategies to scale and improve philanthropic action, guided by the priorities of those most impacted and other relevant interest groups.
- Challenge current support delivery norms and assumptions by engaging in new approaches to achieve transformational change that address underlying vulnerabilities.
- Engage closely with others outside of philanthropy, including governments, civil society, financial and international institutions, and corporations to create effective alliances that catalyse scalable impact.
- Transparently and regularly share progress.
Current signatories include the African Climate Foundation, Aga Khan Foundation, Arab Foundations Forum, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Climate Emergency Collaboration Group, ClimateWorks Foundation, Humanity United, the Institute for Climate and Society, Laudes Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Philanthropy Asia Alliance, Quadrature Climate Foundation, Rumah Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, and Trafigura Foundation.
Learn more here.
“We recently launched our new strategy focusing entirely on climate adaptation. Our mission is to invest in catalytic solutions for resilient communities and ecosystems. Our strategy puts collective action at the centre of all adaptation efforts. As a funder, we see the coalition as a premier platform to increase learning, coordinate approaches, and align with other philanthropies in closing the global adaptation financing gap.”
