ABU DHABI (WAM)

The UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) have officially launched the UAE’s Adaptation Finance Capacity Assessment (AFCA), which assesses the nation’s readiness to mobilise, allocate, and sustain funding for climate adaptation.

Focusing on six key pillars, the report analyses the ways in which adaptation is currently financed across public, private, and civil society actors, and identifies opportunities to accelerate capital flows to adaptation investments.

Developed in collaboration with the GGGI, the Assessment was launched at a dedicated session on climate risks and resilience in the UAE, during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2026.

Dr. Al Dahak, said, “The launch of the Adaptation Finance Capacity Assessment is a key moment in the UAE’s climate resilience journey. The findings of the assessment ensure adaptation finance can be integrated into our country’s national development strategies, and therefore translated into tangible action that drives progress.”

Opening the session, Her Excellency addressed the audience, stating that the new assessment will allow the UAE to move forward with a strategy that relies on every sector taking responsibility.

The event highlighted the need for growing private sector participation in climate adaptation, knowledge exchange, collaboration and collective action.

Dr. Al Dahak added: “The UAE’s vision for a sustainable future means a comprehensive enabling ecosystem, balanced and inclusive. The new assessment will help us navigate climate action that unites UAE citizens and gives everyone an important role to play in our journey.”

Dr. Sang-Hyup Kim, Executive Director at GGGI said, “the UAE’s financial strength and institutional capacity provide a solid foundation for advancing adaptation finance, while also creating opportunities to further institutionalise adaptation finance mechanisms to strengthen effectiveness and impact.”

The report utilises a hybrid methodology, based on benchmarking and international best practices. Findings from the assessment confirm that the UAE’s financial strength and institutional capacity provide a solid foundation to build on. It states that the UAE operates ‘one of the region’s most disciplined and transparent budgeting systems’, and has a ‘highly proficient’ public financial management system by regional and global standards.

The report highlights areas where further institutionalisation of adaptation finance is needed and provides suggestions for development. For example, it states that whilst the UAE has advanced meteorological data and hazard maps, a unified open-access platform or national climate risk model could guide insurers and banks in pricing risk, therefore further rewarding resilience efforts.

Present at the launch event were representatives from MOCCAE, GGGI, the private sector, federal and emirate-level government and academia. Civil society groups.

Discussions from the launch will inform development of the UAE National Adaptation Plan (NAP). The plan is to be developed to reflect the findings of the Assessment and ensure UAE’s climate adaptation priorities are translated into concrete, financed actions.

The report is available via the following link: https://moccae.gov.ae/assets/3e641c8c/uae-adaptation-finance-capacity-assessment-report.aspx