Fifth Climate & Development Ministerial calls for action on adaptation finance at COP30
The Small Island Developing States’ (SIDS) and least developed countries’ (LDCs) message for the 30th United Nations climate change conference (COP30) in Brazil is clear and unified: adaptation is a matter of survival. It’s time to move from promises on climate finance to concrete, country-led action.
Women of Seychelles lead efforts towards healthy oceans by mapping coral reefs in the waters around Mahe Island to fight climate change affecting the local communities (Photo: UN Women, via Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Held in Brasília alongside the COP30 pre-meetings, the fifth Climate and Development Ministerial (C&DM) was co-hosted by Vanuatu, Uganda, Brazil and the United Kingdom. Launched in 2021, the C&DM aims to build trust between funders and climate-vulnerable countries and catalyse bold, collective action for change by improving finance access and delivery.
The fifth C&DM brought together over 40 countries and organisations – from donor governments to climate funds, development partners and financial institutions – signalling a growing coalition driving change. Its goal was to elevate the voices of SIDS and LDCs and identify practical steps to simplify access to, and scale up, adaptation finance.
Ministers and representatives from SIDS and LDCs spoke with conviction about what is needed to make adaptation finance work for those on the frontline of climate change. Their calls, echoed by development partners, reflected a shared recognition that the international finance system must evolve from slow, fragmented delivery to fast, fair, nationally-driven support that is aligned with country priorities and realities.
C&DM group in Brasilia 2025 (Photo: copyright COP30 Presidency)
Adaptation is not optional
For SIDS and LDCs, adaptation is not a policy choice. Rather, it is a matter of both national security and survival. As leaders from Palau and the Marshall Islands put it, without scaled-up adaptation support, their very existence is at stake.
From rising seas to intensifying droughts, these nations are experiencing first-hand the limits of resilience when global systems fail to respond with urgency. For them, adaptation must sit at the core of the global climate agenda and be addressed with the same urgency as mitigation, because building resilience is crucial for sustainable development.
Simplified, harmonised access to finance
A consistent message from SIDS and LDCs is the need for simpler, faster and more harmonised access to climate finance.
From the Maldives to Tuvalu and Panama, speakers described how overly burdensome climate finance processes with complex allocation rules, multiple reporting requirements and fragmented delivery channels slow down implementation and strain limited capacity in their institutions.
Aligned procedures and a common application process across climate funds would allow countries to submit a single, comprehensive proposal instead of navigating different systems. Simplification and harmonisation would reduce transaction costs and ensure that national priorities, not donor templates, drive investments.
Country ownership and regional anchoring
Adaptation finance solutions must be nationally owned and regionally anchored. This calls for homegrown mechanisms such as the Marshall Islands’ National Fund, which channels and coordinates resources in line with domestic priorities, rather than shaped by external labels.
The Marshall Islands cautioned against conditioning access or recognition on whether a country’s mechanism is formally termed a ‘country platform’. What matters is that resources flow through institutions that countries trust and control, regardless of what they are called. Recognising the functions that existing institutions already play in driving coordination and delivery is a vital step.
Other countries echoed this message, highlighting that when nationally-led institutions are supported early and systematically, they become engines of long-term resilience, trust and accountability.
Recognising special needs and circumstances
C&DM participants called for clear recognition of the special needs and circumstances of SIDS and LDCs. Tuvalu advocated for dedicated access windows and direct modalities to fast-track finance, while Tanzania proposed a broader agenda to recognise Africa’s unique vulnerabilities alongside those of SIDS.
This reflects a growing consensus that a one-size-fits-all approach no longer works. Finance and technical support must respond to the realities of diverse geographies, economies and institutional contexts, ensuring support reaches those facing the sharpest edge of climate impacts.
Concessional and grant-based finance
With debt levels already constraining fiscal space, LDCs and SIDS reiterated that climate finance must not increase indebtedness. Tanzania and Nepal stressed that new adaptation finance should be provided primarily as grants and concessional resources, not loans.
This is a matter of climate justice: the countries that are least responsible for global emissions should not bear the costs of adapting to their impacts. As Tanzania’s representative noted: "Adaptation finance should build resilience, not liabilities".
A measure of hope
Donors and funders echoed LDC and SIDS priorities, offering a measure of hope. The European Union reaffirmed its commitment to scaling up grant and concessional finance and ensuring that SIDS' and LDC needs remain central to the New Collective Quantified Goal negotiated at COP29.
The Champions Group on Adaptation Finance, led by the Netherlands, reminded participants that adaptation investments in some key economic sectors can deliver high returns – often tenfold – and reiterated its pledge to increase grant-based and concessional finance and work directly with SIDS and LDCs to translate pledges into practice.
A turning point for adaptation finance?
These messages signal a growing convergence between SIDS, LDCs and their partners. The time for incremental reform is over.
At COP30, the C&DM will deepen its collaboration with partners such as the V20 and the 2050 Pathways Platform to strengthen peer learning, coordination and implementation anchored in country priorities. It will continue to ensure that the voices and experiences of SIDS and LDCs remain central to discussions on country platforms.
Over the coming year, the C&DM will build on the trust and progress achieved so far, consolidating lessons and scaling results through the launch of a practical toolkit on country platforms – a tangible step towards supporting SIDS and LDCs, in shaping global processes at COP30 and beyond.
With thanks to Anaa Hassan and Mohsen Gul for contributing to the development of this insight.
