Image by Agustín Lautaro.

As deadly storms rip through the Caribbean, a new United Nations report delivers a sobering warning: the world is failing to prepare for the climate it has already created.

UNEP’s Adaptation Gap Report 2025, aptly titled Running on Empty, finds that developing nations will need between US$310 and 365 billion annually by 2035 to cope with intensifying climate impacts. Yet, international public finance for adaptation fell to just US$26 billion in 2023, down from US$28 billion the previous year. The result: only one-twelfth of what’s needed is being delivered.

This gap is not an abstract number. It’s visible in the wreckage of homes, farms, and economies across our region. Last week, Hurricane Melissa, the strongest-ever storm to hit Jamaica, tore through the Caribbean, leaving destruction equivalent to nearly 30% of the island’s GDP. With at least 75 lives lost and damages exceeding US$50 billion, Melissa is not just another storm; it is a case study in the cost of global inaction.

A rapid attribution study found that climate change made Melissa four times more likely and increased its wind speeds by 7%, raising damages by around 12%. For Haiti, Jamaica, and other small island developing states (SIDS), such storms bring unbearable losses eroding livelihoods, tourism revenues, and vital infrastructure. These countries contribute the least to global emissions yet bear the highest costs.

The pattern repeats globally. This year’s monsoon floods in Pakistan displaced seven million........

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