The third edition of FTSE Russell’s Net Zero Atlas has found that Group of 20 (G20) governments’ national adaptation strategies are “ill-suited” to meet the scale and complexity of escalating physical climate risks. The Atlas, which annually analyses G20 governments’ transition and adaptation strategies, said 19 out of 20 countries have now formulated a national adaptation plan (NAP), but there are persistent ambition gaps of 1°C or more for Australia, Russia and Saudi Arabia. Another seven G20 countries, including Canada and China, have ambition gaps of 0.5°C. Jaakko Kooroshy, Global Head of Sustainable Investment Research at FTSE Russell, said: “As temperature records continue tumbling – with this year’s July being the hottest for the past 120,000 years – governments gathering in Dubai for COP28 will have to get creative to bring emissions in line with the Paris Goals. We have to recognise that climate hazards will become much more frequent and intense, even in a 1.5°C scenario. While most G20 countries now have an adaptation plan of sorts, our analysis clearly shows they are not yet up to the challenge, even in many advanced economies.”
