The recently released Baku to Belem Roadmap to 1.3T (Roadmap) and the COP30 Circle of Finance Ministers lay out important pathways toward achieving global climate finance goals.

These reports focus on all kinds of climate investments, both mitigation and adaptation. But adaptation can be particularly difficult to finance. So, to help ensure that adaptation receives sufficient and specific attention, this paper lays out actions that, taken together, can have a major impact on the amount of funds flowing to climate resilience.

Research shows that the net economic benefits of investments in adaptation and resilience outweigh the costs, in large part because such investments – in stronger infrastructure or more adaptive agriculture – not only reduce potential future losses but also often bring broader development benefits. Meanwhile, the cost of not investing in climate resilience is substantial. Estimates show that the world economy is already committed to an 11–29% loss of income compared to a baseline without climate changes, regardless of future emissions by 2050. Climate change has the potential to suppress gross domestic product (GDP) growth, reduce employment and income levels, and further raise the cost of borrowing.

With a focus on adaptation and resilience, this paper lays out barriers and recommendations, including seventeen ambition actions, related to five key areas for expanding climate finance. These priority areas were outlined in a report drafted by the Circle of Ministers convened by Brazil’s Ministry of Finance and published in October 2025 and are:

  1. Scaling up concessional finance and optimizing climate funds.
  2. Reforming MDBs to scale up sustainable finance.
  3. Boosting domestic capacity and investment frameworks for climate finance, including country platforms.
  4. Developing scalable and innovative financial solutions for private capital mobilization.
  5. Strengthening regulatory approaches for climate finance.