Bonn Talks End, but Frontline Communities Cannot Wait for Adaptation Finance, says CARE International

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BONN — The UN climate talks in Bonn have concluded with limited progress on one of the most urgent priorities for vulnerable communities: adaptation and adaptation finance. As climate impacts intensify across the world, CARE International is urging governments to move beyond promises and deliver the support climate-vulnerable communities need to adapt.

Negotiations in Bonn have focused heavily on process – on frameworks, indicators and how to measure progress on adaptation. The focus must shift from discussing implementation to delivering it. Adaptation efforts will only succeed if governments provide the finance, technology and capacity support needed to turn commitments into action and help communities build resilience.

Marlene Achoki, CARE International’s Global Climate Justice Policy and Advocacy Lead says:

 “Implementation without finance is just bad fiction. Commitments to provide adaptation finance cannot simply disappear when it is time to deliver on them,” says Marlene Achoki, CARE International’s Global Climate Justice Policy and Advocacy Lead. “Families are already facing impossible choices as climate impacts intensify. The looming threat of a turbo-charged El Niño, combined with record-breaking temperatures, droughts and increasingly unpredictable rainfall, risks worsening hunger, reducing access to clean water and essential health services, and deepening the challenges already faced by women and girls. Developed countries must provide a clear and transparent pathway for delivering adaptation finance to vulnerable countries. This finance must come from public sources, be provided as grants rather than loans, and reach the communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis.”

Obed Koringo, Climate Policy Advisor CARE Denmark, says:

“Adaptation has once again been sidelined at SB64 in Bonn. Delays and procedural deadlocks have stalled progress, putting commitments to triple adaptation finance and delivering the Global Goal on Adaptation at risk. The application of Rule 16 of the Global Goal on Adaptation is more than a procedural setback – it means more delays for communities already facing devastating climate impacts. At COP31, developed countries must move beyond process and deliver the finance and action vulnerable communities urgently need.”

The scale of adaptation finance needed is immense. According to UNEP’s Adaptation Gap Report 2025, low- and middle-income countries will need between $310 billion and $365 billion annually by 2035 to adapt to climate change. Current funding levels remain far below what is needed, leaving vulnerable communities increasingly exposed to climate risks and deepening inequalities.

Adaptation alone cannot keep pace with a worsening climate crisis. To keep the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal alive, governments must also accelerate emissions reductions and deliver a fair transition away from fossil fuels.

Rosa van Driel, Climate Finance Advisor, says:

“In the end, nobody will remember how many workshops were held or how many roadmaps were adopted. What will matter is whether we keep 1.5°C within reach. Every fraction of a degree matters: the higher temperatures rise, the greater the adaptation costs and the more losses communities will face that can no longer be prevented. For people already living with floods, droughts and rising hunger, what matters now is access to the support they need to adapt. This is not about choosing between mitigation and adaptation – we need both, and we need action now.”

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