Adaptation Is Life: Leaders Demand Urgent Adaptation Investment and Action at UNGA 80

New York City – Climate adaptation is no longer a choice, but rather a matter of vital priority. Alongside efforts to rapidly cut emissions, which must be scaled urgently, climate adaptation is central to national security, economic stability and shared resilience. 

This became clear atAdaptation is Life: Scaling up Financing for Adaptation on the Road to COP 30, an event co-hosted by the United Nations Foundation, Talanoa Institute and DanChurchAid on the sidelines of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 80) on 23 September 2025.

The event gathered a mix of important actors in the global climate debate, including speakers from governments, private sector, civil society and climate funds who spotlighted the urgent need to move beyond pledges and declarations and start delivering concrete investments, finance targets and action to make adaptation a reality on the ground.   

Adaptation Is a Smart Investment 

Jay Koh, Co-Founder and Managing Director at the Lightsmith Group, stressed that adaptation is a smart investment for the private sector:

“Adaptation is finally coming into the focal aperture of private investors.The private sector increasingly views adaptation as an unavoidable opportunity, since climate impacts are now locked in for at least the next decade. Investors are beginning to see adaptation as a trillion-dollar market for solutions in water, health, agriculture, and resilience. However, speed is critical: governments must act within a year to enable investment, otherwise private sector engagement will bypass vulnerable populations and remain limited to wealthier markets.”

Adaptation Is About Justice and Accountability

Malcolm Dalesa, Climate Attache, Permanent Mission of Vanuatu to the United Nations, spoke about the country’s  recent successful court case with the International Court of Justice: 

“For Vanuatu, this is a new era of accountability. States have obligations to protect the environment from GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions and must act with due diligence. They have a legal responsibility for cessation of harmful acts. Adaptation is no longer a choice but a legal duty.”

He also announced that Vanuatu is developing a fund to compensate its citizens for loss and damage incurred, with financing mechanisms to deliver funds directly to communities. 

Adaptation Must Be Financed, Fast and Fair 

Manjeet Dhakal, Lead Advisor to the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group Chair on climate change, and Tiffany Van Ravenswaay, Climate Advisor to the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), made strong calls for new global finance targets for adaptation. Climate finance tends to favor mitigation, and without targets, there is a risk that finance allocations for adaptation may diminish. 

Manjeet Dhakal, Lead Advisor to the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group Chair on climate change, said:

“The reason the LDCs are calling for ‘tripling’ is to implement the provision in the Paris Agreement, where it talks about tripling financial flows from the operating entity of the financial mechanism from 2022 levels by 2030. This would benefit the LDCs and all the developing countries. The baseline is $32.4 billion in 2022. If you triple that, you get roughly $100 billion. But again, this will still be way less than what is needed by countries. The LDC tripling is not intended to fully close the finance gap, but it will bring attention to the urgency of scaling up adaptation finance and mobilizing resources in the short term.” 

Tiffany Van Ravenswaay, Climate Advisor to the Alliance of Small Island States, noted: 

“Small Island Developing States (SIDs) did little to cause the climate crisis but are facing the extreme events. Between 2016 and 2020, SIDS  paid $26bn in debt service — 20 times more than they received in adaptation finance. Rising seas force SIDS to divert scarce national resources to adaptation. It's not fair.

“We need accessible, concrete, scaled-up, predictable finance as a success of the Glasgow Pact.”

Responding to the Need for Adaptation Finance

Responding to the call from LDCs  and Small Island Developing States, the Hon. Neale Richmond, Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora, Ireland, and the Hon. Gillian Martin, MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy, Scotland emphasized that developed countries should honor their commitments to support developing countries to adapt to the impacts of climate change. 

Hon. Gillian Martin, MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy, Scotland said:

“Without adaptation there’s no stability, and without stability there’s no growth. Adaptation allows communities to keep going in the face of climate impacts. Scotland takes responsibility for climate action very seriously and is supporting climate justice programs in Malawi, Rwanda, and Zambia.”

Hon. Neale Richmond, Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora, Ireland  said:

“Adaptation represents about 86% of our climate finance. We reached our climate goal early, the deadline was 2025, we reached ours– of about  225 million – a number of months back and we are now preparing the next round and making the case quite clearly from an Irish point of view.  All Ireland’s climate finance is grant-based, and we fundamentally believe that working with local based partners is how we get direct to source.” 

Tariye Gabedesin, the Chief Executive Officer of the Climate Investment Funds, a $12.5 billion climate fund, announced that they will launch a new initiative, Accelerating Resilience and Investment for Sustainable Economies (ARISE), to support adaptation and resilience, building on lessons learned from their Pilot Program for Climate Resilience, which has fully dispersed $1.2 billion for resilience efforts.

“Countries will be in the driver’s seat — assessing their own needs and designing programs accordingly. The goal of ARISE is to merge adaptation and resilience planning into economic planning and link to ministries of finance and development to embed adaptation into development pathways.”

Putting Adaptation at the Heart of COP 30

Alice Amorim, Program Director, COP 30 Presidency, Government of Brazil, concluded the session affirming that adaptation is a priority for the COP 30 Presidency and should be central to all climate COPs going forward. She highlighted that Brazil is developing an ambitious adaptation package for COP 30: 

“When we talk about the adaptation package, what we are looking at is how can we use all the different elements of any COP towards the purpose of having a strong adaptation outcome. That means strong political signals coming out of the Leaders’ Summit and from ministers throughout the COP that they care about adaptation, that they are working on adaptation, and that they are willing to fund adaptation. We need to convince the world why adaptation is such a good investment for public budgets, communities and economies.”

Natalie Unterstell, COP30 Adaptation Council member and President of Talanoa Institute, said “No rush, but no time to lose. Saramago’s words summarize the essence of this moment, and of the path to COP30. This is the paradox of our time: we cannot rush shallow solutions, yet we cannot waste a single day in bringing real adaptation to life.”

Philip Yang, COP 30 Special Envoy for Cities, and Founder of URBEM, noted: 

“Why does adaptation need to be at the heart of COP 30? Because adaptation is life!”

The event recording can be accessed via the Adaptation Campaign Hub and Dan Church Aid's dedicated website.

Media Contacts

Megan Rabbitt, UN Foundation: press@unfoundation.org | +1 202-247-1777

Mattias Söderberg, DanChurchAid: msd@dca.dk | +45 29700609

Natalie Unterstell, Talanoa Institute: natalie@institutotalanoa.org

About The UN Foundation

For over 25 years, the UN Foundation has built novel innovations and partnerships to support the United Nations and help solve global problems at scale. As an independent charitable organization, the Foundation was created to work closely with the United Nations to address humanity’s greatest challenges and drive global progress. Learn more at www.unfoundation.org

About Talanoa Institute

Talanoa Institute is a non-profit think tank in Brazil that focuses on climate policy, using data, science, and dialogue to promote impactful public policies for people and the planet.inicio - Instituto Talanoa

About DanChurchAid
DanChurchAid (DCA) is one of Denmark’s largest humanitarian and development NGOs and a significant international actor, with offices in 20 countries and membership in the global ACT Alliance. The organization’s work on climate change is deeply integrated, combining on-the-ground partnerships with engagement in global debates about climate change.
https://www.danchurchaid.org.