The debt crisis is putting climate adaptation spending out of reach

Ahead of the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai, I authored a policy paper for Development Finance International (DFI) which shows that in 2023, spending on debt service will be 12.5 times higher than spending on climate adaptation. In 2024, it will be 13.2 times higher.

Spending needs for climate adaptation in the Global South are up to US$340 billion a year. Yet just a fraction of this is currently being mobilised by domestic public budgets and donor flows. In 2021, just US$24.6 billion was provided in donor flows for climate adaptation, while 42 countries of the Global South reported just US$12.7 billion in domestic funds for climate adaptation. At the same time, debt service levels are at record highs. Broken down by region, in 25 Sub-Saharan African countries, debt service will consume 16 times as much as climate adaptation spending; in six small island developing states, nearly six times; in 4 Asian countries, 22 times; and in 4 Latin American and Caribbean countries, over four times as much.

Debt is crowding-out much-needed investments in climate adaptation at a time when taking action is becoming increasingly urgent. Debt relief and lower borrowing costs for countries of the Global South are essential to accelerate urgent spending on adaptation, and put SDG13 within reach.

This briefing, has been produced jointly with AFRODAD, Debt Justice, Erlassjahr, LATINDADD , Jubilee USA and Norwegian Church Aid.

It is a companion policy briefing to DFI’s recent paper, The Worst Debt Crisis Ever: Shocking New Debt Service Numbers, which analyses debt service alongside spending on education, health and social protection.

Read the policy paper.

The Guardian also covered the story: New push for debt relief to help developing world fund climate action