John Podesta: More support needed for least developed countries to adapt

"The year 2024 has been a year defined by the climate crisis, and the consequences of living with a rapidly warming planet are all around us with devastation all around the world. So while we urgently take steps to lower emissions, we must also step up our response to climate disasters and build resilience to future extreme weather," John Podesta, senior advisor to President Biden for international climate policy at the White House, said at the Climate and Development Ministerial (C&DM) on the second day of Pre-COP29 in Baku, Report informs.

"That includes, of course, supporting the least developed countries and small island developing states to manage and adapt to this crisis. Financial support is the critical enabler of climate action. This includes public international support, which is especially critical for adaptation, as has been noted, as well as working to improve debt, sustainability and fiscal space so countries can invest in their futures and respond to disasters when they need to," he noted.

"The United States has made a generational advancement in our approach to supporting developing countries with adaptation through the President's Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience, known as PREPARE. PREPARE aims to help half a billion people in climate-vulnerable partner countries adapt to and manage the impacts of climate change this decade.

As part of that effort, President Biden pledged in 2021 to scale up the US international public finance for adaptation sixfold to reach $3 billion a year by 2024, which we're on track to do. I would note that it includes building early warning tools available to developing countries that can substantially reduce the cost of extreme weather events," he added.