Guterres calls for tripling adaptation finance
UN chief António Guterres warns climate shocks are escalating into humanitarian crises.
Food insecurity across six East African countries has nearly tripled in a decade, driven by climate shocks, conflict, and economic instability. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) estimates 40.3 million people now face high levels of acute food insecurity, representing 34 per cent of the population covered by its analysis.
More than one in three people assessed are affected. The regional crisis rose from 13.9 million people in 2016 to 40.3 million in 2026. Over nine million children aged six to 59 months need treatment for acute malnutrition. Of those, 2.3 million children suffer from severe acute malnutrition requiring urgent lifesaving treatment.
South Sudan has the highest prevalence, with 55 per cent of its population estimated to face crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity between April and July. Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands were also severely affected, with 4.1 million people facing high levels of acute food insecurity between April and June 2026.
Guterres’ call for urgent adaptation and early warnings
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that without adaptation, climate extremes become humanitarian disasters. He urged tripling climate adaptation finance and achieving universal access to early-warning systems by 2027. Guterres warned that failure to prepare for climate shocks turns extreme weather into wider humanitarian and economic crises.
He said the impacts of climate change are arriving sooner and spreading further than many had anticipated. The world is nearing a breach of the 1.5-degree Celsius temperature limit. Guterres called on developed countries to meet their financial commitments to vulnerable nations. António Guterres said: "Without adaptation, droughts become hunger crises; storms become debt crises; and heatwaves become killers."
He also called for the 'ambitious replenishment' of the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage. Guterres said the amount of money available in that fund was currently 'completely ridiculous'. He urged that the Loss and Damage Fund operate at scale.
Progress and gaps in early-warning systems
The UN’s Early Warnings for All initiative, launched by Guterres in 2022, aims to protect everyone by 2027. The initiative seeks to ensure everyone on Earth is protected by multi-hazard early-warning systems by the end of 2027. Since its creation, it has mobilised $2bn. Over 160 countries are now being supported by the programme.
Guterres highlighted the importance of these systems to help countries prepare and protect against climate impacts. He said early-warning systems should be extended to every person on Earth by 2027.
Finance and systemic reform needed
Guterres stated the world needs to aim for $1.3bn in annual climate finance by 2035. He stressed that funding for climate finance should be led by developed nations. Current finance is insufficient. Salvatore Serravalle, programme leader in global macro and finance resilience at E3G, said finance for adapting our societies to a warming planet remains insufficient.
Serravalle noted that the recent Belém climate talks set a direction by calling for efforts to at least triple adaptation finance by 2035. He argued for simpler, faster, grant-based finance that can reach the most vulnerable, not only those with the greatest bureaucratic capacity.
Guterres urged countries to ease 'debt burdens that choke investment, including by pausing repayments when disasters strike'. He called for reform of 'the international financial architecture to give developing countries a stronger voice and participation'. Guterres said climate adaptation must be integrated into government policies, budgets, and infrastructure decisions.
He made climate action one of four major tests of power facing the world, alongside war and peace, inequality, and the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence. Guterres said the climate crisis represents a profound imbalance between generations, with those least responsible often suffering its consequences first and most severely.
The joint COP31 Presidency has a key responsibility to ensure adaptation finance remains a central focus of the upcoming climate negotiations.
