Construction of a embankment on the banks of the Mayur River in the town of Khulna in south-western Bangladesh

Climate change and development Adaptation to climate change

Three to four billion people – nearly half of the world's population – live in regions that are highly vulnerable to climate change. This is posing a threat to their livelihoods and opportunities, and this threat is growing. For that reason, the German Development Ministry (BMZ) is not only funding climate change mitigation measures; it is also supporting its partner countries in adapting to the impacts of climate change and, where adaptation is not sufficient, in dealing with climate change-related loss and damage.

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A road in the Caribbean nation of St Lucia was washed away after heavy rain.

Adaptation of lifestyles and economies to the impacts of global warming is enshrined as a key objective in the Paris Agreement (External link) alongside climate change mitigation. In addition, the international community adopted the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience in 2023, which lays down global priority areas for action in which countries want to increase their cooperation. However, it is especially the people and countries in particularly vulnerable situations that lack the financial resources and capacities to implement urgently needed changes for better resilience on their own.

Industrialised countries such as Germany have pledged to support climate change adaptation in the developing countries and emerging economies, for example by providing funding and through knowledge and technology transfer.

At international level and through bilateral and regional cooperation, Germany is working to build the resilience of communities, habitats, ecosystems and economic systems to climate change impacts in order to prevent suffering, loss and damage.

What the BMZ is doing

The BMZ is involved in a diverse range of activities:

Comprehensive climate risk management: analysing and assessing climate risks and assisting experts in selected countries in producing climate risk analyses and climate risk profiles and in developing and implementing appropriate strategies and measures
Dealing with loss and damage: close cooperation with partners in order to develop a coordinated support architecture to improve capacity for coping with the consequences of climate change; in addition to the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD (External link)), there is also the Santiago Network (External link) for technical assistance and other initiatives that are successfully contributing to climate risk finance and preparedness and to the expansion of early warning systems, especially the Global Shield against Climate Risks (External link)
Strengthening a conducive environment: supporting adaptation planning, building the capacity of public authorities and scientific institutions, integrating knowledge and capital from private sources, for example through the NAP Global Network (External link).
Biodiversity and ecosystem conservation and protection: providing targeted support for the development and implementation of nature-based solutions (NbS) such as Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) because such solutions contribute to adaptation, mitigation and biodiversity conservation; examples include ecosystems such as mangroves and coral reefs, which provide natural protection against storms and against the consequences of rising sea levels
Food security: fostering low-carbon, resilient agricultural and food systems in order to safeguard food availability and access at local, regional and global level
Water security: reducing water losses, promoting water reuse and storage, protecting and renewing groundwater resources, developing water use plans
Infrastructure: establishing resilient infrastructures that can withstand extreme weather events and slow-onset climatic and environmental changes, promoting climate-resilient urban planning
Seizing opportunities for a just transition: adapting agriculture to changed climatic and ecological conditions (for instance by planting new varieties) and fostering agro-ecological approaches
Climate and Development Partnerships: working together with selected partner countries in order to link the goals of climate neutrality, climate resilience, economic transformation and social justice (green and just transition)
Ownership: promoting key initiatives by the developing countries and emerging economies, for example the Vulnerable Twenty (External link) (V20) Group, Africa Adaptation Initiative (External link) (AAI), Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (External link) (CDRI)
Coordinated action: working with the European Commission and other EU member states on the basis of a Team Europe approach in order to systematically implement climate change adaptation and mitigation measures

Financing of measures

Meeting room of the international donor conference of the Green Climate Fund, hosted by the German government in Berlin on 20 November 2014.

Germany has resolved to achieve a balance in its climate finance between funding for mitigation and for adaptation. In 2023, the BMZ provided around 2.4 billion euros for adaptation measures, which was about 43 per cent of Germany's total climate finance. Most of this funding directly benefits the partner countries, for example their agriculture, water, urban and rural development sectors.

Solar plant and coal-fired power station in Ulan Bator, Mongolia

In order to contribute to the climate finance targets set out in the Paris Agreement, Germany has announced that it will provide six billion euros annually for climate finance by 2025. It achieved this target for the first time in 2022. Germany is also working to facilitate effective access to international climate finance from multilateral climate funds and to increase private sector mobilisation and engagement.

Investing in adaptation to climate change pays off. Without adaptation strategies, the estimated costs of damage and loss would be two to ten times greater than those of the adaptation measures. For example, infrastructure projects that are designed to be climate-smart from the start only cost three per cent more on average – and the long-term benefit of this built-in adaptation by far exceeds the short-term extra investment.