CPI Tracking of Private Adaptation Finance Rises Fivefold to USD 5.7 Billion

Climate Policy Initiative's latest Global Landscape of Climate Finance tracks USD 5.7 billion in private sector adaptation finance for 2023, nearly five times the amount captured in prior years following methodological improvements. The increase reflects expanded tracking of asset managers, consumers, households, and venture capital rather than solely commercial banks, corporations, and private equity.

CPI's annual GLCF reports have tracked climate finance flows for over a decade, but early editions did not capture private adaptation finance due to data and methodology limitations. Since 2021, successive improvements have raised the tracked figure from USD 1 billion for the 2019 to 2022 period to nearly USD 5 billion following a 2024 methodology update, and to USD 5.7 billion in the 2025 edition. The Lab alone has supported approximately 20 adaptation-focused financial instruments over the past decade that collectively secured more than USD 650 million in private investment, demonstrating that viable commercial models for adaptation already exist.

Accurate data on private adaptation finance is considered essential for meeting the New Collective Quantified Goal adopted at COP29, which calls on developed countries to mobilise USD 300 billion annually by 2035 for developing countries and on all actors to scale climate finance to USD 1.3 trillion annually by 2035. CPI argues that under-reported private adaptation flows perpetuate the inaccurate narrative that no viable business models exist for adaptation, which in turn depresses investor interest and skews public finance toward mitigation. Improved accounting would help channel scarce concessional capital where it is most needed.

CPI has identified three next steps to advance decision-useful tracking of private adaptation finance. First, expanding the GLCF methodology to capture consumer and household adaptation spending such as cooling solutions and storm-proofing. Second, building institutional relationships with insurers, pension funds, and asset managers to fill data gaps. Third, harmonising and communicating existing adaptation taxonomies, several of which have been published in recent years but lack consistent uptake. CPI views these steps as complementary and intends to continue iterating on its approach in close consultation with multilateral development banks and private investor coalitions.

Key figure — USD 5.7 billion in private adaptation finance tracked for 2023