Climate change is a reality. It has already fundamentally changed the everyday lives of many people – and many more will feel its effects in the coming years. This is especially true of people who are already vulnerable due to poverty, war, etc. Therefore, we must adapt to a world shaped by climate change. This includes building in ways that protect against floods, restructuring agriculture to produce crops better suited to the changing climate, and much more. But these efforts cost money. The developing countries and the UN Secretary-General have called on wealthy countries to allocate a larger share of climate finance to adaptation.

Currently, about one-fourth of climate finance mobilised by developed countries for developing countries goes to adaptation. This is not enough. 

Therefore, Denmark has decided to earmark at least 60% of its grant-based climate finance to developing countries for adaptation efforts. We made this decision because developing countries desperately need help to adapt – and because this will increase trust between prosperous and less prosperous countries when negotiating on the climate. Trust is all-important to our collective ability to deal with the global climate crisis.