As the impacts of climate change continue to intensify, ActionAid and Climate Action Network International (CAN International) are urging governments to move beyond statements of principle and mobilise financial resources commensurate with the needs of the most vulnerable communities. For both organisations, adaptation financing must be at the heart of COP31 decisions. In Antalya, Türkiye, where the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31) is taking place, climate adaptation financing has emerged as a major and urgent issue. ActionAid, in collaboration with Climate Action Network International (CAN International), brought this issue to the forefront through a side event entitled “Adaptation Cannot Wait.” Through this initiative, the two organisations seek to urge governments to take urgent and concrete action to strengthen financing for climate change adaptation. Their message is unequivocal: communities on the frontlines of climate change can no longer wait for commitments that are slow to translate into action. Across the world, populations on the frontline of the climate crisis are already experiencing the consequences of a phenomenon to which they have contributed very little. Rising sea levels, saltwater intrusion, recurring droughts, floods and loss of livelihoods: the impacts of climate change are no longer a distant threat. They have become a daily reality for millions of people, particularly in the most vulnerable regions. Ahead of COP31, ActionAid had already issued a warning to governments: prolonged inaction is no longer an option. According to the organisation, the world cannot afford another succession of ambitious declarations without the financial resources and political commitments needed to turn them into action.

In this context, COP31 represents a crucial opportunity to put adaptation back at the centre of international climate action priorities. The challenge is no longer simply to acknowledge the scale of climate risks, but to equip communities with the resources they need to prepare for these risks, cope with their impacts and sustainably protect their living conditions For ActionAid, adaptation financing must enable the billions of people facing growing climate risks to protect their lives, economic activities, livelihoods and future. The organisation is therefore calling on governments to take a decisive step forward: move beyond promises towards concrete financial commitments, ensuring accessible resources and responses commensurate with the scale of the challenges facing vulnerable communities. In Antalya, the advocacy led by ActionAid and CAN International highlights a fundamental requirement of climate justice: the populations that contribute the least to the climate crisis must not be the ones bearing its heaviest consequences. At COP31, the challenge is therefore clear: to make adaptation financing a genuine priority, backed by political decisions and concrete financial resources. As the theme of their initiative reminds us, adaptation cannot wait.

Babaclimat – Journal Agropasteur