[Answered] With reference to UNEP report, Adaptation target not keeping pace with growing risks. What are the reasons behind the slow adaptation? What measures can be taken for increasing its pace to tackle growing climate risks? 

According to the UNEP’s Adaptation Gap Report, 2022: ‘Too Little, Too Slow’, global efforts towards adaptation planning, financing and implementation are not enough to prepare vulnerable communities around the world to adapt to the rising risks from the impacts of climate change. Reasons behind the slow adaptation:

• Inadequate flow of finance: Combined mitigation and adaptation finance flows in 2020 fell short of the annual US$100 billion global goal pledged by developed countries. The adaptation finance gap in developing countries is likely five to 10 times greater than current international adaptation finance flows and continues to widen.
• Inadequate involvement of stakeholders through elite capture of resources and exclusion of marginalized groups, including women, indigenous peoples and local communities.
• Inadequate attention to local contexts and ownership through genuine local participation in adaptation design and implementation.
• Short-term focus and neglect of future climate risks resulting in inadequate attention to the long-term viability of adaptation solutions.
• Retrofitting development activities as adaptation actions without specifically addressing climate risks, often resulting in marginal resilience benefits or maladaptation.

Measures to tackle growing climate risks: 

• Linking adaptation and mitigation actions: such as nature-based solutions, from the outset in planning, finance and implementation can enhance co-benefits. It could also limit potential trade-offs, such as hydropower reducing food security or irrigation increasing energy consumption.
• Better climate risk data and analysis: which are essential to safeguarding lives and means of subsistence in vulnerable nations and communities.
• Increase financing for adaptation: developed countries should provide a clear roadmap for their promise of doubling finance for adaptation to $40 billion, which they had promised at COP 26 in Glasgow.
• The world urgently needs a new business model for turning adaptation priorities into investable projects.
• There should be implementation and operationalisation of early warning systems against extreme weather events and slow onset changes such as sea level rise.

Strong mitigation and adaptation are both key to avoiding hard adaptation limits. Ambitious, accelerated action to adapt to climate change is therefore paramount, together with strong mitigation efforts.