As deadly and destructive climate impacts are felt around the world, the need for measures to cope with and respond to the effects of climate change—known as adaptation and resilience—is growing. Extreme events such as searing heatwaves and relentless floods fuel a vicious cycle of deepening poverty and escalating vulnerability to climate impacts.

Investing in adaptation and resilience enables nations and communities to prepare, recover, and build infrastructure robust enough to face the future, and is paramount for their progress and well-being. Investment in adaptation yields significant fiscal and economic savings by averting future losses. For vulnerable countries, climate adaptation is no longer an option—it is a necessity. Though funds are required, adapting is cheaper than not adapting.

And yet, a chasm exists between developing countries’ needs and actual investment levels. Annual financing for adaptation and resilience languishes at about 10 percent of estimated needs, which are projected to be $215 billion to $387 billion annually by 2030. In Africa, for instance, enhanced spending on resilience is vital for food security, livelihoods, supply chain protection, and staving off health crises. Furthermore, global financing for loss and damage—the unavoidable social and economic consequences of climate change—remains a footnote.

A Unique Opportunity for Philanthropies

Philanthropies are learning more about climate adaptation and resilience. There are many opportunities for philanthropies to get involved in supporting climate adaptation that many may not have thought about, mostly because these opportunities invite giving at higher levels than in the past. They promote pooling of resources to enable greater leverage and impact of philanthropic resources.

But first, some background. The 2024 report from the Independent High Level Expert Group on Climate Finance (IHLEG) underscored the urgent need to bridge the vast financing gaps hindering both climate mitigation and resilience-building. It stressed mobilizing funds that do not exacerbate national debt, even as Official Development Assistance from the United States and much of Europe in early 2025 is being downsized. In such a climate, developing countries need alternative sources of concessional and grant financing.

In 2023, philanthropic giving for climate change was estimated between $9.9 billion and $16.4 billion annually. Alarmingly, only about $600 million (a mere 4-6 percent of this total) was dedicated to adaptation, according to the ClimateWorks Foundation. Historically, philanthropies have prioritized mitigation, mainly sustainable energy. A new survey indicates foundations are now paying more attention to adaptation, a shift that is long overdue.

Read the full article about the climate adaptation funding gap by Marilou Uy and Carter Brandon at Alliance Magazine.