Climate-vulnerable countries face mounting disaster costs and debt, while proposed just transition mechanism should protect workers and communities, organisation says
By Bunmi Yekini
ActionAid has called on governments to prioritise substantial climate adaptation financing at COP31, warning that continued inaction threatens communities already bearing the brunt of climate change.
The international humanitarian organisation said the upcoming climate negotiations must move beyond rhetoric and deliver funding to protect billions of people exposed to escalating climate risks.
Teresa Anderson, Global Lead on Climate Justice at ActionAid International, said record-breaking temperatures, a catastrophic glacier collapse in Nepal and an intensifying Super El Niño underscored the growing urgency of climate action.
She said the United Nations Environment Programme’s latest adaptation report showed that global investment in adaptation remained far below what was needed to protect communities.
Anderson warned that climate-vulnerable countries were increasingly being pushed into debt by the rising costs of climate disasters, leaving governments with limited resources for climate action as they prioritised debt repayments.
“COP31 needs to get serious about protecting the billions of people who are now at risk by putting real financing for adaptation at the centre of the climate conversation,” she said.
Anderson also called for COP31 to establish a Just Transition Mechanism to protect workers, women and communities from the economic and social consequences of climate policies.
She said the mechanism could help address concerns that climate action might threaten livelihoods, jobs or increase the cost of living.
According to Anderson, negotiations present an opportunity to establish a new body with the authority to monitor and strengthen approaches that ensure the transition to greener economies remains people-centred.
“No one should be forced to choose between a secure job and a safe planet,” she said.
ActionAid said governments must ensure climate policies deliver both environmental protection and economic security for communities navigating the transition