Finance
Bonn bulletin: Developing nations ask x3 adaptation finance by 2030
Call to triple adaptation finance
At COP26 four years ago, governments agreed to “urge” developed countries to double finance for adapting to climate change up to around $40 billion a year by 2025.
That goal ends this year, although we will not know until 2027 if it has been met. But at a press conference in Bonn this afternoon, the Least Developed Countries group chair Evan Njewa called for a successor goal – tripling adaptation finance by 2030 on 2022 levels. “Adaptation is a lifeline,” he explained.
Other developing countries are likely to back this. Grupo Sur and the Like-Minded Developing countries have made the same call in different negotiating rooms and Njewa said he was sure that the small islands group AOSIS would back it too.
“We’re never going to say no to adaptation finance,” AOSIS finance negotiator Thibyan Ibrahim told Climate Home in Bonn. But he noted that even tripling “does little to close the adaptation finance gap”. The UN estimates that developing countries need $160-340 billion a year by 2030, whereas tripling on 2022 levels would bring in just under $100 billion.
Last year in Baku, developed governments would not agree to having a sub-goal on adaptation in the wider $300-billion-by-2035 finance goal and it’s not currently clear which negotiating track a new adaptation goal could be included in.
The doubling-by-2025 goal was in the COP26 cover decision – a stand-alone declaration all governments agree to – but the COP30 Presidency has said it does not want a cover decision.
It would fit in the Baku to Belem roadmap to $1.3 trillion or the Global Goal on Adaptation. But the roadmap is not an official negotiated UN agreement – so may not be followed up on – and developed-country governments have been resisting financial indicators in the Global Goal on Adaptation.
Meanwhile outside the world of UN climate talks, a recent CARE report showed that adaptation finance is likely to fall by 10% in 2026. France, Germany, the Netherlands and particularly the UK are set to make big cuts between 2025 and 2026.
The US is giving nothing in either 2025 or 2026. Commenting on US climate finance cuts generally, Njewa said he expects “someone somewhere to rise up and fill in the gap that that party has left”.
From Bonn to Nairobi?
Denouncing the visa problems faced by some developing country delegates heading to Bonn, more than 200 climate campaign groups made a joint call yesterday for governments to consider whether Germany should remain the default host for the mid-year climate talks.
Chanting “no borders, no nations, no visa applications”, a dozen campaigners gathered outside the conference centre on Tuesday morning, holding up a banner calling to move the annual talks to “visa-friendly countries”.
With many of those affected by the perennial issue unable to protest themselves, the demonstrators played a voice note from Roaa Alobeid, a young Sudanese climate activist who spoke movingly at COP28 about the war in her country.
She said she had gone to great lengths to get a visa for the Schengen area, which includes Germany, making an appointment, submitting 15 documents – including five letters of support and a bank statement – but was still rejected.
“I’m not there. I will never be there”, she said. “Why? I’m not worth it?” “We shouldn’t be left behind when we are the ones impacted.”
Cameroonian activist Zoneziwoh Mbondgulo-Wondieh did make it, but told the protest her one-year-old daughter had been refused a visa for being too young. She asked why Germany would implicitly tell a nursing mother they must stay at home and not work abroad.
When Climate Home questioned the German foreign office on this issue last year, a spokesperson said it was important to the government that all delegates could attend but there are legal requirements for getting a visa for the EU’s Schengen zone of free movement.
Rachitaa Gupta, head of the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice, said it would be better to hold the annual mid-year talks somewhere like Nairobi or Bangkok – where UN facilities already exist and visas are easier to obtain. Holding the meetings in the Global South would also be cheaper, Gupta added.
Climate finance on the rise – mostly for the rich
New figures out today paint a fairly positive picture of global climate finance, showing it climbed to a record $1.9 trillion in 2023, more than tripling over six years.
Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), which compiles the data, said that at the current rate of growth, the world could deliver $6 trillion in annual climate investment – the most conservative estimate of needs – by 2028.
Private-sector funding rose above $1 trillion for the first time in 2023, driven by household spending on electric vehicles, solar and energy-efficient housing – with clean energy in advanced economies and China receiving the bulk of the money.
While this suggests the long-touted need to “shift the trillions” towards green investment is underway, the headline numbers mask the fact that many of the poorest countries are still failing to receive anything like the amounts they need.
The CPI report shows that overall public climate finance fell by about 8% from 2022 to 2023, as government budgets were tight after the COVID-19 pandemic. It also warned that recently announced cuts to official development assistance, in countries such as the US and the UK, raise concern that money from this source could decline further.
International climate finance for emerging markets and developing countries reached $196 billion in 2023, with 78% of that from public sources. Yet while both climate-related development finance and private investment rose, CPI said the least-developed countries still face barriers to accessing affordable capital, and need more financial innovation and support.
In a separate report released on Monday, however, Oil Change International and 17 other NGOs warned that a widely used approach of using government money to lower investment risk and bring in more commercial cash – known as “blended finance” – is falling short of expectations.
The report found that every public dollar of concessional lending is bringing in 4-7 times less private investment than anticipated, leaving the Global South with massive shortfalls of cash for its energy transition. Most money, it said, is going to Global North countries and China, with the remaining 69% of the world’s population receiving just 15% of finance in 2023-2024.
“A just energy transition is dramatically more affordable than continued fossil fuel dependence. But unfortunately affordable doesn’t mean ‘attractive to banks and hedge funds’,” said Bronwen Tucker, global public finance lead at Oil Change. “It is clear from the data that private investors are not fit to lead the way to the fossil free future we need, and that governments must step in.”
Mineral justice for Africa
Efforts to revive the Lobito Corridor trade route in central Africa must prioritise local economic development over raw material exports, researchers at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) said, as campaigners in Bonn call for justice for resource-rich countries and an end to the extractive injustices of the fossil fuel era.
The US and the European Union are providing financial support to Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to upgrade their infrastructure to aid transport of critical energy transition minerals like cobalt and copper through a rail system which terminates at the port of Lobito on Angola’s Atlantic coast.
In a policy brief issued this week, highlighting the Corridor’s opportunities and challenges for a just transition, the researchers questioned how the project’s development will benefit the wider economies of the countries involved, while protecting social benefits and human rights including being fair to the people whose land it might encroach upon and the artisanal miners who dig up many of the raw materials.
They said the involvement of the EU and the US has raised concerns in participating countries such as Zambia, where a parliamentary committee has said the Lobito Corridor project appears to focus on “mopping up critical raw materials” to respond to the energy security concerns of wealthy nations without adding value to the countries.
Lorenzo Cotula, IIED principal researcher, said if the EU and other prospective funders are interested in a genuine, long-term partnership with Angola, Congo and Zambia, they should support their efforts to promote economic development and improve the lives of their citizens.
“This project shouldn’t just be a means to export more raw materials more quickly to wealthier countries, or another chess piece in the great power game,” Cotula said.
“Millions of people in mineral-rich, lower-income countries are being sidelined in a global rush for materials to power electric cars, computers and even military technologies in richer nations,” he added.
Sharing similar concern, campaigners from Power Shift Africa and the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) convened a press conference at the ongoing talks in Bonn calling for the need for just minerals in the just transition, because one cannot exist without the other.
Anabella Rosemberg, senior advisor on just transition at Climate Action Network International (CAN-I), said the transition that is happening is not one that is needed for a climate-compatible world because the needs of resource-rich countries are being ignored.
Rosemberg said there is need for international cooperation to overturn the current competition over resources, adding that “we know that investment and trade deals are being arranged to secure the supply of these minerals, and in the end, we are reproducing all the mistakes that have been done in the past with the fossil-based economy”.
Samira Ally, project officer at Power Shift Africa, said Africa’s mineral wealth can accelerate a global shift to net zero when governed by justice and stability with necessary guardrails in place.
To do this, she asked governments to integrate language from the G20 and the UN panel on critical minerals into the climate talks and national climate plans so that they “reference sustainable supply chains and the right to development and industrialisation in the Global South”.
Because the EFL’s profit and sustainability rules are about trying to make sure clubs are not losing unsustainable amounts of money.
Despite going on a summer spending spree, paying about £30m for players and having one of the highest net spends around, Wrexham are well within the financial parameters because of the commercial revenue already being brought in thanks to deals with giants such as United Airlines and HP.
In League Two, they were already bringing in more than 20 of the 24 Championship clubs.
“Under the PSR rules, you’re allowed to lose £39m over three years,” said Maguire. “Looking at their two most recent sets of accounts, Wrexham lost around about £23m – but they’ve had substantial increases in broadcast revenue, from about £1.2m in TV money in League Two to about £12m this season.”
That is before taking into account a significant jump in sponsorship and commercial income, with chief executive Michael Williamson estimating they are already on a par with some top-flight clubs.
“We have a global brand, a Premier League brand in the Championship,” Williamson told Ben Foster’s Fozcast podcast in August 2025.
“What we don’t have is the broadcast revenue of Premier League clubs or the parachute payments.
“From a commercial standpoint, if you compared us to Championship clubs, I’m sure we’d be among the top and – on commercial revenues only – we would probably surpass a handful of Premier League clubs, around four or five I would guess.”
As you work on diversifying your stock portfolio, it can be a good idea to take a step back and consider your options. What sectors are advantageous now? Should a new approach be taken?
We spoke with 12 financial and investing experts who shared the stocks that have currently piqued their interest. And, they shared their best advice on how to approach your picks. If you’re looking for sound advice this year, and beyond, you can find advisers using CFP Board, NAPFA or this free tool from our ad partner SmartAsset that matches you to fiduciary advisers.
CrowdStrike or the ETF Global X Cybersecurity — Myles J. McHale Jr., president and founder of Wealthcare Advisors
“Many of us have faced credit card fraud or financial/romance scams, and these issues are not going away. I recommend investing in network security, endpoint protection and identity management. Specifically, the individual stock CrowdStrike (CRWD) or the ETF Global X Cybersecurity ETF (BUG) are excellent choices in this space. With the continued expansion of AI, cybersecurity investments will remain crucial,” McHale says, while adding that “there is no need to panic or drastically change your current asset allocation.”
BBB Foods — Rick Munarriz, stock analyst at Motley Fool
“Valuations and tensions are high, so if there were ever a time to be a Peter Lynch disciple and ‘buy what you know,’ this would be it. Don’t chase hot stock tips in companies and industries you don’t fully understand or aren’t passionate about. One of my favorite stocks heading into 2026 is BBB Foods (NYSE: TBBB). It’s the parent company of Tiendas 3B, a fast-growing retail chain in Mexico specializing in ‘hard discount’ groceries.
It’s a stacker, and by that I mean a company that is stacking growth on top of growth. BBB Foods is expanding its chain at a low double-digit percentage rate. It’s also growing average store-level sales — or what they call comparable-store sales — in the low double digits. Stack those two things together consistently, and BBB Foods has rattled off four consecutive years of better-than-30% revenue growth.”
BlackRock, GE Aerospace and Walmart — Jason Bernat, investment adviser, president and CEO of American Financial Services
“We are anticipating several rate cuts in 2026 which will support higher valuations but also increased volatility. I personally believe that AI will continue to remain central. Stocks tied to AI computing and data center buildouts are obvious choices. However, moving beyond pure hype tech, into sectors like financials, industrials, and even value, will give a major growth opportunity.
NVIDIA (NVDA), Broadcom (AVGO), Marvel (MRVL), Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM), Alphabet (GOOGL) [and] Amazon (AMZN) are your champion AI stocks with high earning potentials, momentum, and cloud and hardware growth expectancy. Outside those, I like BlackRock (BLK), which has strong earnings growth. GE Aerospace (GE) industrial and defense exposure with projected revenue growth. Finally with a more defensive position if markets wobble is Walmart (WMT).”
“Focus on owning high-quality, cash-flow-generative assets” — Josh Katz, CPA and founder of Universal Tax Professionals
“The easy-money era, where simply being in the market guaranteed strong returns, has shifted. This year, focus on owning high-quality, cash-flow-generative assets and let that income, reinvested over time, do the heavy lifting for your portfolio. Patience and discipline will be key differentiators.
I always favor diversified exposure through ETFs that capture the themes above rather than risky individual stock picks. The U.S. equity market is projected for resilient growth, with firms poised to benefit from AI-driven efficiency gains, a friendly policy mix and strong earnings potential. This remains the core, growth-oriented foundation of a portfolio. In a market favoring quality and durable cash flow, funds focused on companies with a history of growing their dividends are essential.”
Renewable energy and energy storage — Jamie Hobkirk, CFP at Reynders McVeigh Capital Management
“As we move into 2026, I think it is important for investors to stay diversified across different sectors and not get hung up on the winners of 2025. More recently, we are starting to see increased breadth in the market, which presents more investment opportunities for investors.
Themes that Reynders McVeigh continues to like are renewable energy, energy storage and the buildout of the electric grid. The expansion of artificial intelligence is creating a growing demand for energy. With current demand outpacing production, multiple energy sources will be needed to support continued growth. Companies that support these themes are Schneider Electric, Nexans, and Nextpower Inc. to name a few.”
AI and tech — Carson K. Odom, CPA, CFP and wealth adviser at Adams Wealth Partners
“AI and technology leadership remain central to the conversation, but concentration is the biggest risk factor here. My biggest warning would be to make sure investors are aware of how concentrated an index fund they own may be. Some may not realize that 40% of their index fund is concentrated in under 10 names.
Themes I like for 2026 are tech and AI infrastructure, quality earnings and underperforming small-cap stocks. AI got the headlines in 2025, and I think the infrastructure behind it can take the lead in 2026. Also, high quality small-cap stocks have really lagged in performance since 2021. We’re nearing one of the largest deficits in small cap performance relative to large caps in recent history. If history tends to give us a lesson, it’s that there’s usually a reversion to the mean with these trends, which makes small caps appear attractive.”
Walmart and American Express — Ekenna Anya-Gafu, CFP, accredited asset management specialist, AIF and founder of Pacific Canyon Investments
“My number one piece of advice is have a long-term thesis and try to ignore the noise (a lot easier said than done). My biggest thought when it comes to the stock market and retail clients is that understanding the source of products, where they are made, and who the company is selling to is extremely important.” Anya-Gafu recommends:
“Walmart (WMT): They have close to a monopoly on low-income shoppers, and if the K curve (different groups in the economy experience very different outcomes at the same time) shows more in 2026, I believe the middle class will start to fade, which puts more individuals and households into lower income thresholds.
American Express (AXP): We saw that 93% of all purchases on Black Friday [were] done on a credit card or Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL). I like American Express because their high credit profile requirements will be more protected from people not being able to pay their credit card bills, but because it is a charge card, it should make more profit than a typical credit card company.”
Digital infrastructure and essential services — Martin Robinson, CFP and director at Amzonite
“Areas such as digital infrastructure, the energy transition and essential services continue to attract attention because they tend to be more resilient across different market conditions. Companies with steady cash flows, pricing power and strong ownership are often better positioned when uncertainty is high. Ultimately, stock choices should reflect personal goals, time horizon and comfort with risk, rather than a single prediction about where the market is headed.”
MYR Group, First Solar and Recursion Pharmaceuticals — Peter Krull, director of sustainable investing at Earth Equity Advisors recommends:
“MYR Group (MYRG) — Specialists in electrical infrastructure. Between the clean energy transition and the AI buildout, we’re going to need to move electrons efficiently across the country. MYR designs and builds transmission lines to meet the ever-growing demand for more electricity. I see continued growth for at least the next decade in their services.
Recursion Pharmaceuticals (RXRX) — One of the most promising uses of AI technology is in biotechnology and pharmaceutical development. Recursion teamed up with NVIDIA to build a supercomputer to analyze potential drug opportunities. The analysis performed by the Recursion system has the potential to speed up the drug development process and reduce the cost of development by half. This is a riskier opportunity, but there should be long-term potential.
First Solar (FSLR) — First Solar is a leading designer and manufacturer of solar panels and systems for utility-scale developments, and the largest headquartered in the U.S. They are focused on innovation in the solar manufacturing space, investing in clean manufacturing and higher cell efficiency.”
Healthcare, energy and housing — Chris McMahon, president and CEO at Aquinas Wealth Advisors LLC
“We believe the market will broaden out dramatically over the next few years. The current overconcentration in tech stocks will begin to spread into the broader market. In particular, we think sectors such as construction, banking, and materials are well positioned for growth.” McMahon recommends:
“Healthcare: this sector has languished as the market reduced allocation based on the uncertainty of Secretary Kennedy. We have had time to see that in spite of some changes.
Energy: driven by the demand from AI and also a return to U.S. manufacturing we expect energy to outperform in the coming year.
Housing/material: lower interest rates will drive spending and fuel the growth of this sector. [The] $3-6 million shortage of housing is real and means good things for the sector.”
Commodities — Michael E. Chadwick, CFP and founder at Fiscal Wisdom Wealth Management
“The public needs to understand capital is slowing [and] rotating away from stocks to hard assets. While the world chases seven stocks and crypto, the next cycle will favor hard assets and the most richly valued things today will take the biggest bath. Index funds, popular mutual funds, ETFs that are passive, and lifestyle funds are the most dangerous things to own today and will likely see massive falls followed by upswings.
I like the commodity complex in general — precious metals No. 1, miners No. 2, critical metals No. 3, energy No. 4, [hard commodities like energy, gold and silver] and Latin America is also very attractive. I like them because they’re out of favor, undervalued and have been ignored. The whole world is chasing AI, tech and crypto, so some amazing opportunities exist in boring areas. This is where the real money will be made in the next cycle.”
Utilities and industrials — Doug Beath, global equity strategist at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute
“We continue to be very positive on the AI buildout and believe we’re closer to the early innings of the cycle than the end, but are also cognizant of valuations. We downgraded the technology sector to neutral several months ago and now favor the ancillary trends related to AI but with better valuations such as utilities with the data centers, and industrials to help build out those data centers.
Financials also have a favorable AI-related theme in terms of financing and M&A activity — and seem particularly oversold so far in 2026. At some point, we could overweight technology again if there’s a pullback or market conditions changed. This leads to another theme we’re recommending to clients this year, and that is prepare to ‘be nimble.’”
There’s a famous quote attributed to J.P Morgan, the early American financier and banker whose name now adorns the largest investment bank in the world.
“Nothing so undermines your financial judgement as the sight of your neighbour getting rich,” he said.
Social media these days is full of people touting the next big undervalued stock or crypto coin and showing off their gains from investing in speculative markets. And according to new research, it is actually younger, more internet native generations who are more likely to follow dubious investment advice and fall for investment scams online.
It comes as regulators in Australia push for better financial literacy to counter the AI boom and consider cracking down on advertisements of financial products.
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Chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Joe Longo, has warned about the proliferation of promotions for financial products, particularly through social media, suggesting they posed a danger to Australian consumers.
Highlighting previous rules to ban cigarette advertisements, Longo flagged a potential crackdown on such advertisements as the watchdog looks to close gaps in the regulatory regime governing the financial services sector.
“Particularly through social media, there’s a whole range of ways in which Australians are exposed to pretty aggressive financial product promotion,” he said.
“So I think we need to be looking for ways of helping Australians navigate that. And secondly, possibly even looking at restrictions or prohibitions of some kinds of advertising, to nip it in the bud.”
The ASIC chair, whose stint as head of the regulator ends on May 31, said the government was intent on pushing more funding towards literacy about both financial products and technology as it prepares for the expected rise of AI agents which are capable of independently performing tasks with minimal human input.
“The whole question of literacy around technology is related to financial literacy, because we’re seeing a convergence.
“So many financial products are promoted through a range of these technologies or platforms. So I do worry that, as a community, we’re not investing enough in our level of understanding around these issues.”
AI has helped fuel an explosion in advertisements spruiking questionable investments in financial products.
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