'Adaptation finance must triple and become grant-based'

COP30 entered its second week on 17 November with negotiations stuck on several critical fronts, including climate finance, adaptation, technology transfer, gender equality and just transition. While negotiators struggle to find common ground, civil society organisations and climate activists continue mounting pressure through rallies, public events, policy dialogues and protests.

The Business Standard spoke with Dr Md Arifur Rahman, CEO of Young Power in Social Action (YPSA), one of Bangladesh's leading civil society organisations working directly on community-based adaptation.

YPSA has long advocated for tripling adaptation finance, greater accessibility, and a shift towards grant-based funding. In this interview, Dr Arif outlines why COP30 matters and what vulnerable nations urgently expect.

Why is COP30 important?

Dr Arif: COP30 is a landmark moment because it marks a decade since the Paris Agreement—yet global climate action is nowhere near aligned with science. Holding COP30 in Belém, deep within the Amazon, is symbolic and urgent. This region is a lifeline for the planet. It reminds negotiators that forests, Indigenous peoples and nature-based solutions are central to global climate stability and core to the Global Goal on Adaptation.

This COP must push countries to strengthen their climate commitments and to significantly accelerate adaptation. The world's most vulnerable nations are hit hardest despite contributing the least to emissions, and they cannot survive on the current scale of funding. COP30 is expected to deliver renewed ambition, stronger implementation plans, and a firm commitment from wealthy countries to scale up and triple adaptation finance as repeatedly demanded by climate-vulnerable countries and civil society.

This conference must also integrate cultural and Indigenous perspectives into climate action, elevate climate justice, and ensure that climate policies support poverty reduction, food security, inclusion and social resilience. After years of broken promises, COP30 must restore trust.

What should be the key outcomes from COP30?

Dr Arif: The most important outcome must be a clear, credible and measurable climate finance roadmap, especially for adaptation. We need clarity on how developed countries will deliver scaled-up support, including the long-promised goal of tripling adaptation finance. Without strong adaptation financing, vulnerable nations will not be able to protect their people, ecosystems or economies.

COP30 must also finalise robust indicators for the Global Goal on Adaptation. Countries need tools and support to build and implement stronger national adaptation plans, which can only happen if finance is predictable, transparent and grant-based. The summit should push for inclusive, just transition pathways, greater technology transfer, and capacity-building for developing countries. It must also protect forests, including the Amazon, through sustainable, community-centred conservation.

A shift from symbolic pledges to real implementation is essential. COP30 should define responsibilities, provide timelines and ensure accountability so that vulnerable countries receive the resources they need to adapt before losses become irreversible.

What are the expectations from vulnerable communities?

Dr Arif: Vulnerable communities expect COP30 to meaningfully address their realities. They want substantial increases in adaptation finance, direct access to funding, and clear mechanisms to address loss and damage, including non-economic losses like cultural heritage, displacement and ecosystem destruction.

Communities at the frontline want their rights, traditional knowledge and leadership recognized. They depend on land, rivers, forests, mangroves and fisheries for their survival. They expect COP30 to protect these resources and strengthen early warning systems, local resilience, and community-led solutions.

What they fear most is another conference that promises action but delivers little. Their expectation is simple: move from negotiations to implementation, ensure justice, and build climate solutions that actually reduce risks today, not in the distant future

What should global leaders do to make COP30 effective?

Dr Arif: Global leaders must come to COP30 with honesty and ambition. They need to make firm, time-bound commitments and pledge specific financial contributions, especially for adaptation. Political will is the missing link. Without it, negotiations cannot move.

Leaders must present a clear plan to triple adaptation finance, operationalise the Loss and Damage Fund with adequate resources, and ensure that funds flow quickly and directly to countries that need them. They must protect critical ecosystems like the Amazon, ensure human rights safeguards, and anchor all decisions in equity and climate justice.

Crucially, leaders should prioritize inclusion. Indigenous peoples, youth, women, grassroots organisations and persons with disabilities must have a meaningful voice in climate policymaking. A fair COP30 means shifting power and resources toward those who bear the brunt of the crisis.

How is YPSA contributing to addressing environmental impacts?

Dr Arif: YPSA works to make climate action inclusive and community-driven. Our programs engage women, youth, ethnic minorities and persons with disabilities—groups often pushed to the margins of climate discussions. YPSA implements adaptation initiatives in coastal and disaster-prone areas, promotes nature-based solutions, and strengthens community preparedness against cyclones, floods and sea-level rise.

We help protect ecosystems, build climate-smart livelihoods and strengthen local leadership. Our work integrates data, research and partnerships with national and international stakeholders. YPSA also advocates globally to ensure that adaptation finance becomes more accessible and inclusive. Through our field experience, we show how local action can create long-term resilience, if the right financial support is available.

What should adaptation finance look like?

Dr Arif: Adaptation finance must be predictable, equitable and at least tripled. Current funding levels are far below what vulnerable countries need. Finance should be predominantly grant-based, not loan-based. Climate-vulnerable countries should not be forced deeper into debt simply to survive climate impacts.

Funding must be easy to access, with simplified procedures and fewer bureaucratic delays. It should prioritise countries and communities with the highest vulnerability, and strengthen locally led adaptation initiatives. Effective adaptation finance invests in climate-resilient infrastructure, early warning systems, ecosystem restoration, climate-smart agriculture, coastal protection, and capacity building.

It must also be gender-responsive, disability-inclusive and transparent. Accountability is essential so that funds reach the communities experiencing the worst impacts of climate change. Adaptation finance must support long-term resilience, not one-off projects, and empower people who are already living through a crisis they did not create.