change synonym development

Synonyms of change

• as in alteration
• as in fluctuation
• as in money
• as in to modify
• as in to vary
• as in to exchange
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Thesaurus Definition of change

 (Entry 1 of 2)

Synonyms & Similar Words

• modification
• transformation
• fluctuation
• refashioning
• metamorphosis
• deformation
• replacement
• rectification
• oscillation
• displacement
• substitution
• transfiguration

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• stabilization
• inconstancy
• transmutation
• transmogrification
• vacillation
• legal tender
• money order
• paper money
• chump change
• promissory note
• folding money
• pocket money
• spending money
• wherewithal
• cashier's check
• king's ransom

Thesaurus Definition of change  (Entry 2 of 2)

• revolutionize
• metamorphose
• transfigure
• deteriorate
• turn around
• interchange
• reciprocate

Synonym Chooser

How is the word change different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of change are alter , modify , and vary . While all these words mean "to make or become different," change implies making either an essential difference often amounting to a loss of original identity or a substitution of one thing for another.

When might alter be a better fit than change ?

Although the words alter and change have much in common, alter implies a difference in some particular respect without suggesting loss of identity.

When is it sensible to use modify instead of change ?

The synonyms modify and change are sometimes interchangeable, but modify suggests a difference that limits, restricts, or adapts to a new purpose.

Where would vary be a reasonable alternative to change ?

In some situations, the words vary and change are roughly equivalent. However, vary stresses a breaking away from sameness, duplication, or exact repetition.

Phrases Containing change

• change one's mind (about)
• change of heart
• small change

Articles Related to change

'Handsome,' 'Geek,' and 8 More Words...

'Handsome,' 'Geek,' and 8 More Words That Changed Their Meanings

Language evolves

Thesaurus Entries Near change

chandeliers

changeability

Cite this Entry

“Change.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/change. Accessed 4 Nov. 2023.

More from Merriam-Webster on change

Nglish: Translation of change for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of change for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about change

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Synonyms and antonyms of development in English

Development.

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Synonyms of 'development' in British English

• development

Additional synonyms

Synonyms of 'development' in american english, video: pronunciation of development.

Browse alphabetically development

• devastating
• devastation
• All ENGLISH synonyms that begin with 'D'

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• development

synonyms for development

• advancement
• improvement
• augmentation
• enlargement
• ontogenesis
• progression
• reinforcement
• elaborating
• making progress
• reinforcing

See also synonyms for: developmental developments

antonyms for development

Most relevant

• retrogression

Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.

How to use development in a sentence

The development and deployment of a vaccine will affect everybody on the planet.

I believed then, and I’m even more convinced now, that a rising China is an incredibly positive development for not only China, but the United States and the rest of the world.

Some of that has been done through acquisition — in 2016 Red Ventures bought Bankrate, which owns sites including The Points Guy, and acquired Healthline and HigherEducation in 2019 — and some has been done through internal development .

The rest was spent on things like personnel, operations and maintenance, and research and development .

Until now, the market mechanisms had essentially socialized the consequences of high-risk development .

A second document was titled: “Gambia Reborn: A Charter for Transition from Dictatorship to Democracy and development .”

Children in households with more equitable participation of men show better health and development .

In a frightening development for the GOP, Democrats had won even traditionally Republican constituencies in the Midwest.

In a remote location with little means for economic development , the Brogpas have cultivating this identity to their advantage.

Despite its ranking at the bottom of most international development indexes, the conflict is shrouded by confusion.

It is the development of character, the triumph of intellectuality and spirituality I have striven to express.'

The whole aim is to secure the development of character by the expression of the highest elements of character.

Why use dangerous cosmetics when Jones' soap retains youth and health for the complexion, and fosters the development of beauty?

The obstacles operating against the development of enterprises and employment of foreign capital to be removed.

John Baptiste Robinet taught the gradual development of all forms of existence from a single creative cause.

Choose the synonym for platform

Words Related To development

• compression
• contraction
• diversification
• metamorphosis
• modification
• permutation
• reconstruction
• transformation
• transmutation
• vicissitude
• about-faces
• adjustments
• compressions
• contractions
• conversions
• corrections
• developments
• differences
• distortions
• diversities
• innovations
• metamorphoses
• modifications
• modulations
• permutations
• reconstructions
• refinements
• remodelings
• revolutions
• transformations
• transitions
• transmutations
• vicissitudes

civilization

• acculturation
• cultivation
• edification
• enlightenment
• illumination
• social well-being

complication

• aggravation
• embarrassment
• entanglement

complications

• aggravations
• complexities
• difficulties
• embarrassments
• entanglements
• intricacies
• consequence
• culmination
• end of the line
• eventuality
• termination

consideration

• particulars

considerations

• baksheeshes
• commissions
• percentages
• perquisites
• remunerations
• something to sweeten pots
• Synonyms For
• Antonyms For
• Related Words

More From Forbes

How to account for cultural differences in the workplace.

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Andrej is Executive Vice President at Exela Technologies .

“No.” It's one of the most commonly used words in any language, but people’s willingness to openly voice disagreement varies by the cultural norms of their backgrounds. These differences matter because, with the rise of remote work, our workplaces are more cross-cultural than ever. If leaders don't tinker with their "settings" and communicate at a level that truly gets through to other cultures, they will end up wasting time, and productivity will suffer.

One survey of employees across 90 countries found that 89% of remote teams had at least two cultures represented , and more than one-third included four or more. Of those respondents, 78% cited candid discussion of problems as one of the most acute cultural challenges facing their teams. In this context, the small word “no” has oversized implications: For one person, “no” may be too confrontational; for another, it is a healthy assertion.

Re-tuning an organization’s communication strategy to create mutual understanding in the face of nuanced cultural differences starts with recognizing how they get manifested in teams. While leaders may be able to read about managing differences from a book, in my experience, being truly effective in this role comes down to real-life practice.

Here is what I have learned from leading a workplace scattered across the world.

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Wwe smackdown results: winners and grades before crown jewel 2023, a year ago, russian troops got massacred assaulting vuhledar. now they’re getting massacred trying again., the importance of recognizing cultural differences.

I am largely based in the U.S. but have worked with people from many different European and Asian cultures. In that time, I have seen challenges arise when people are not aware of cultural differences or are aware but choose to ignore them. Alternatively, people may think their cultural approach takes precedence. In the latter case, people risk coming off as arrogant if they assume everyone will adapt to their way of working.

Leaders can avoid such insensitivity by tailoring communications based on the cultures they are working with. For my Asian colleagues, while globalization is challenging existing norms, interactions are generally mediated by social hierarchies . In their cultural milieu, those hard “no's” are rare. I’ve also found that North Americans and Europeans tend to be more open about disagreement, but even here, there are nuances. In my experience, North Americans exercise a greater degree of mobility between jobs, and their material disagreement is sometimes not expressed in words as much as it is in changing jobs, whereas Europeans are less likely to change jobs but are more likely to exercise vocal disagreement. Still, I generally find that among these two geographies, the culture of the organization, less so than social norms, is what tends to dictate interactions.

Differences also play out in how people from different cultures delegate job duties and communicate with their teams. When we integrate the best elements of each culture’s approach to communication , we can leverage these differences as a huge asset because they allow us to create a dynamic workplace and make progress with people across cultures—instead of treating diversity as an impediment to growth.

Found In Translation: The Upsides Of Differences

A Harvard Business Review study of 804 remote international teams found that scholarship on cross-cultural communication has overwhelmingly tended to focus on the negative effects of differences. While it's true that failure to adapt can hinder progress, the upside to diversity is significant and obvious.

We live in a complex, interconnected world, and having diverse opinions rooted in cultural differences is a dimension that leaders will want to have at their disposal when making decisions. This is especially relevant for global markets because what works in the U.S. may not work elsewhere —and unless leaders are aware of these differences and have the right input, they may go down the wrong path.

There are other differences that need to be recognized for their role in influencing productivity and morale. For instance, work structures in the U.S. tend to be the most demanding, least risk-averse and most open to new ideas. The U.S. also has a very positive outlook on upward mobility, while highly entrepreneurial Asian nations, including India, are less upwardly mobile and more hierarchical, leading to more of a rigid view of upward mobility. That said, there is also tremendous variability among individuals from similar backgrounds, so we must always be wary of pushing people into limited descriptions of their cultures.

How To Create Friendly Cross-Cultural Environments

The global virtual teams’ survey revealed people felt their colleagues’ lack of collaboration was another major cross-cultural challenge. Team members may want to participate in discussions but may not always know the culturally appropriate way to speak up. Here are some of the steps leaders and managers can take to give everyone a voice.

• Notice the common cross-cultural differences and be conscious of the tacit assumptions and tendencies that can lead to misunderstandings.

• Practice active listening and take turns speaking.

• Offer opportunities for free and friendly exchange of ideas.

• Provide cross-cultural training for different groups to get familiar with each other’s communication styles, etiquette and body language.

• As the HBR authors suggest, ask people who affiliate with multiple cultures to serve as a bridge on cross-cultural teams.

• Use forums and discussions as an opportunity to understand different approaches to feedback while working through disagreements.

Although diverse teams are more creative and better resourced at solving problems, geographic diversity adds another layer of complexity for remote teams. So, regardless of how leaders approach cross-cultural communications, adapting to working with different cultures is not a one-off event.

Unity In Diversity: A Powerful Approach To Progress

It is only through daily exposure to different perspectives that open-minded leaders will learn how to tune their settings and make communications universally understood. This includes creating a safe environment where people can disagree and make their “no” heard. But remember, cultural differences are a double-edged sword depending on how leaders treat them—as a positive point or a difficulty. We are not aiming just to avoid conflict but to use differences as a powerful method of making progress for our organizations.

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• Fact Sheets

FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Executive Order Directs DHS to Lead the Responsible Development of Artificial Intelligence

On October 30, 2023, President Biden issued a landmark Executive Order to promote the safe, secure, and trustworthy development and use of artificial intelligence (AI). The Biden-Harris Administration places the highest urgency on governing the development and use of AI safely and responsibly, and is therefore advancing a coordinated, federal government-wide approach to doing so. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will play a critical part in ensuring that AI use is safe and secure nation-wide. DHS’s own use of AI will be achieved responsibly, while advancing equity and appropriately safeguarding privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties.

The direction provided in the EO is consistent with DHS' innovative work in ensuring the safe, secure, and responsible use and development of AI. DHS will manage AI in critical infrastructure and cyberspace, promote the adoption of AI safety standards globally, reduce the risks that AI can be used to create weapons of mass destruction (WMD), combat AI-related intellectual property theft, and help the United States attract and retain skilled talent. The EO follows on DHS’s work deploying AI responsibly to advance its missions for the benefit of the American people.

To learn more about DHS’s work in AI, visit www.dhs.gov/ai .

Managing AI in Critical Infrastructure and Cyberspace

Advances in AI will revolutionize the operation of critical infrastructure operations and ultimately the delivery of services upon which Americans rely daily. But it will also present new and novel risks. To protect U.S. networks and critical infrastructure, the President has directed DHS to take several steps to help govern the safe and responsible development and use of AI.

First, the President has directed Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas to establish and chair an AI Safety and Security Advisory Board (AISSB) to support the responsible development of AI. This committee will bring together preeminent industry experts from AI hardware and software companies, leading research labs, critical infrastructure entities, and the U.S. government. This AISSB will issue recommendations and best practices for an array of AI use cases to ensure AI deployments are secure and resilient.

Second, DHS will work with stakeholders inside and outside of government to develop AI safety and security guidance for use by critical infrastructure owners and operators. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is assessing potential risks related to the use of AI in critical infrastructure sectors , including ways in which deploying AI may make critical infrastructure systems more vulnerable to critical failures, physical attacks, and cyberattacks. We will also take a global, harmonized approach by working with international partners on these guidelines.

Finally, DHS will capitalize on AI’s potential to improve U.S. cyber defense. CISA is actively leveraging AI and machine learning (ML) tools for threat detection, prevention, and vulnerability assessments. Furthermore, DHS will conduct an operational test to evaluate AI-enabled vulnerability discovery and remediation techniques for federal civilian government systems.

Reducing Risks at the Intersection of AI and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Threats 

The advent of AI may make it easier for malicious actors to develop WMD. Of particular concern is the risk of AI-enabled misuse of synthetic nucleic acids to create biological weapons. To mitigate the risk, DHS will work with the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy and other relevant U.S. government agencies to evaluate the potential for AI to lower the barriers to entry for developing WMD. Furthermore, DHS will develop a framework to evaluate and stress test synthetic-nucleic acid screening, creating a standardized set of expectations for third parties that audit AI systems for misuse and prevent the risk of abuse and proliferation by malicious actors.

Combatting AI-related Intellectual Property Theft 

Protecting AI intellectual property (IP) is critical to U.S. global competitiveness. IP theft threatens U.S. businesses, impacts American jobs, and negatively effects our national security. To address this challenge, DHS, through the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, will create a program to help AI developers mitigate AI-related IP risks, leveraging Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), law enforcement, and industry partnerships. DHS will also contribute to the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement.

Attracting and Retaining Talent in AI and other Critical Emerging Technologies 

Cultivating talent in AI and other emerging technologies is critical to U.S. global competitiveness. To ensure that the United States can attract and retain this top talent, DHS will streamline processing times of petitions and applications for noncitizens who seek to travel to the United States to work on, study, or conduct research in AI or other critical and emerging technologies. DHS will also clarify and modernize immigration pathways for such experts, including those for O-1A and EB-1 noncitizens of extraordinary ability; EB-2 advanced-degree holders and noncitizens of exceptional ability; and startup founders using the International Entrepreneur Rule.

DHS has already advanced policy consistent with direction in the EO:

On October 20, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to modernize the H-1B specialty occupation worker program and enhance its integrity and usage; USCIS continues to work on rulemaking to enhance the process for noncitizens, including experts in AI and other critical and emerging technologies and their spouses, dependents, and children, to adjust their status to lawful permanent resident.

On September 12, 2023, USCIS clarified guidance on evidence for EB-1 individuals of extraordinary ability or outstanding professors or researchers.

DHS Leads in the Responsible Use of AI

AI is already delivering significant value across DHS, and it will only become more significant to every part of our operations in the years to come.

Concrete examples of where DHS is already seeing benefits from AI include the following:

Fentanyl Interdiction: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) uses a ML model to identify potentially suspicious patterns in vehicle-crossing history. Recently, CBP used the model to flag a car for secondary review, which yielded the discovery of over 75 kgs of drugs hidden in the automobile.

Combatting Online Child Sex Abuse: Recently, HSI Operation Renewed Hope identified 311 previously unknown victims of sexual exploitation thanks in part to a ML model that enhanced older images to provide investigators with new leads.

Assessing Disaster Damage: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) uses AI to assess damage to homes, buildings, and other property after a disaster more efficiently. Using ML, data from past incidents, as well as pre-disaster imagery, FEMA can classify different levels of damage. During disasters, FEMA uses the output from the ML model to significantly reduce the number of impacted structures that need to be physically reviewed in-person for damage. This allows FEMA’s analysts to process images in days, as opposed to weeks, and gets disaster assistance to survivors that much faster.

While these examples focus on border security, investigations, and disaster response, every DHS Agency and Office is working to responsibly integrate AI, harnessing its potential to further improve DHS operations for the benefit of the American people.

Protecting Civil Rights, Civil Liberties, and Privacy

DHS maintains a clear set of principles and robust governance that prioritizes the protection of civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy. The Department’s approach is the foundation for its work to ensure AI is used responsibly across DHS’s unique missions. DHS policy outlines the Department’s commitment to lean forward in deploying AI tools to enhance operations and lead the government in the responsible and ethical use of AI, ensuring the acquisition and use of AI in a manner that is consistent with the U.S. Constitution and all other applicable laws and policies. Among other commitments, DHS will not collect, use, or disseminate data used in AI activities or establish AI-enabled systems that make, or support, decisions based on the inappropriate consideration of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, medical condition, or disability.

The Department’s governance and oversight for the responsible use of AI is a closely coordinated, highly collaborative effort that unites operational and business-process stakeholders from across the Department around the common goal of ensuring responsible use. In April 2023, Secretary Mayorkas established the Department’s first Artificial Intelligence Task Force to drive specific applications of AI to advance critical homeland security missions.

The DHS AI Task Force includes a Responsible Use Group, led by the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, which is developing tailored approaches to provide guidance, risk assessment, mitigation strategies, and oversight for the protection of individual rights in projects championed by the DHS AI Task Force. An AI Policy Working Group coordinates work to affect Departmental policy change and apply oversight to all DHS AI activities through collaboration among the Office of the Chief Information Officer, Science and Technology Directorate, Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, the Privacy Office, and the Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans.

As DHS deploys AI responsibly, it will work under the President’s direction to harness the opportunities and reduce the potential harms of this revolutionary technology.

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https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-tax-rule-change-that-is-threatening-businesses-survival-a9236658

A Tax Rule Change Is Threatening the Survival of Some Businesses

Businesses large and small are being hit by a change in tax rules on r&d expenses. some are struggling to stay afloat..

Oct. 24, 2023 5:07 pm ET

Tristan Louis in January started preparing to file taxes for his software business. Expecting a bill in the five-figures, the Casebook founder was shocked to learn his tax liability for the nearly 50-person firm was over $400,000. 

The 52-year-old, unsure the business would survive, scrambled to figure out how to come up with the cash to pay the taxes. The reality quickly became clear. Job cuts were needed and by early March, he had to cut staff by around 35%. “In our case,” Louis said, “it was really a question of life or death.” 

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Climate change is driving insurance rates up, forcing developers to add weather-proofing

• Climate change has elevated the risk of natural disaster losses, sending real estate insurance premiums soaring.
• Major commercial real estate trusts and developers have cited climate change as a significant threat to the stability of their investments.
• Properties with climate-resilient features that protect from hurricanes, flooding, fires and wind have been able to to secure cheaper insurance premiums and reduce long-term costs by lowering their risk of property damage.

Along East Boston's waterfront sits The Eddy, a two-building property with over 250 luxury apartments. Its harbor-side location provides unobstructed views of the Boston skyline. It also leaves the building particularly vulnerable to sea surges and flooding .

When developers imagined The Eddy in 2014, they kept that weather exposure in mind.

According to the Urban Land Institute , or ULI, the developers built The Eddy nine inches higher than the original property that was previously located on the site. They put an emergency generator on the roof, built an 18-inch floodgate layered with sandbags at the base and planted coastal vegetation that can survive a saltwater immersion. The developers also constructed The Eddy with walls that can withstand up to 100 miles per hour of wind.

Those renovations reduced The Eddy's estimated flood loss risk from $10 million to $1 million, which meant ten-times cheaper annual flood insurance premiums, plus savings on wind insurance, according to ULI.

Since The Eddy completed construction in 2016, extreme weather has become more common. As a result, insurance has grown more expensive .

Climate-resilient features that might have once been considered architectural frills are now helping commercial real estate owners lower property costs in the long-term.

Lindsay Brugger, vice president of urban resilience at ULI, said that, along with reducing insurance premiums, climate resilience can generate savings by lowering operating expenses, improving the marketability of a building and avoiding construction costs when a natural disaster hits.

"Resilience should be for everybody. It does not need to be a luxury," said Brugger.

A 2018 study by commercial property insurer FM Global found that for every dollar spent on hurricane protection, a building will lower its loss exposure by $105.

And a 2019 report by the National Institute of Building Sciences spoke on the non-financial savings as well. It found that implementing mitigation measures according to modern building codes could save 600 lives and prevent 1 million nonfatal injuries.

Climate's insurance crisis

Commercial real estate properties have seen insurance rates rise an average of over 7% since 2017, according to an August Moody's report . That's compared to a typical yearly increase of about two to three percent.

"It's not all really due to climate hazards, but that is one of the core issues," said Kevin Fagan, who authored the report and leads Moody's commercial real estate analysis division.

Some insurers have pulled out of high-risk markets like California and Florida, scared off and priced out by the increasing regularity of extreme weather conditions.

Christine Chipurnoi, an executive at USI Insurance Services, said as a result, her clients have seen "astronomical" premiums. One Florida office property she advises saw its annual wind insurance quote climb from $30,000 to $44,000 in just four weeks.

"The market is just changing so fast," she said.

Major commercial real estate trusts have all cited climate risk as a significant threat to their financial stability.

In February , Vornado Realty Trust noted that its concentrated investment in markets like New York, Chicago and San Francisco leaves it especially vulnerable to natural disaster damages and elevated costs. Climate change could increase the cost of property insurance, energy maintenance and damage repair, Vornado said.

"Over time, these conditions could result in declining demand for office and retail space in our buildings or the inability of us to operate the buildings at all," the company said in the filing.

Boston Properties and Highwoods Properties made similar statements in their own 10-K filings.

As climate change risks make insurance more unavailable, commercial property owners are looking to weather-proof their assets rather than solely rely on pricey insurance to cover their damages.

"Investing in the asset as opposed to depending on insurance coverage just makes more sense nowadays," said Tony Liou, president of sustainable engineering firm Partner Energy.

Climate resilience is 'not a nice-to-have'

Consequently, climate-resilient architecture is no longer just a luxury expense — it's a means of securing discounted insurance and lowering long-term costs.

In California , for example, insurers are required to discount rates based on the mitigation measures an owner has taken to protect their property like having fire-resistant vents or a Class A fire-rated roof.

Despite the construction costs of weather-proofing, Fagan said, "You do kind of get paid back."

According to a ULI case study, a south Florida resort saved itself an estimated $500,000 in annual insurance premiums because it integrated hurricane-proof windows, located its electrical units above storm-surge zones and installed other climate resilience measures.

Sometimes, it's not just about cheaper insurance but rather securing insurance at all.

Climate-resilient architecture "makes you writable," said Chipurnoi. "It will make more insurance companies come to the table and actually give a quote."

Holly Neber, the chief executive of AEI Consultants, helps assess risk on commercial real estate and has seen firsthand how clients can be priced out of insurance coverage without integrating climate change mitigation for their properties.

She recently consulted on a trio of 1970s vintage multifamily buildings in Miami Gardens, Florida whose owner, in order to meet new lending requirements, needed to increase the property's wind insurance policy by 850 percent — from $5 million of coverage to over $47 million. After an initial risk assessment, insurance firms only felt comfortable covering an additional $5 million.

"The owner was stuck. How could they refinance if the required wind coverage was not available?" Neber said.

But the buildings recently had a weatherproofing makeover: new roof truss framing, hurricane ties on the rafters, plywood sheathing and new windows.

What may have once been viewed as extraneous renovations now allowed the client to go back to the insurance companies with a new risk assessment of wind damage, which convinced more insurers to finance the $47 million insurance policy.

Beyond finding better insurance deals, without weather-proof features, it has become harder to get insurers to play ball in the first place.

Climate resilience then, Neber said, "becomes not a nice-to-have, but it's integrated into good risk management and good investment."

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As climate threats grow, poor countries still aren't getting enough money to prepare

Michael Copley

A man walks over his collapsed mud house after heavy monsoon rains in Pakistan in 2022. Climate change makes heavy rain more common, because a hotter atmosphere can hold more moisture. Fida Hussain/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

A man walks over his collapsed mud house after heavy monsoon rains in Pakistan in 2022. Climate change makes heavy rain more common, because a hotter atmosphere can hold more moisture.

The world is facing more extreme weather that scientists say is fueled by human-driven climate change. The poorest countries have done the least to cause the problem, but they are being hit the hardest by more intense droughts and floods and storms. Yet as the threats from a warming planet grow, the United Nations says in a new report that less money is being sent to developing countries to help them adapt.

Developing countries, which have less wealth than developed countries like the United States, were promised $100 billion a year from their richer neighbors to help pay for cutting climate pollution and coping with the impacts of rising temperatures. Developed countries didn't deliver on their pledge . In 2021, they actually gave poorer nations 15% less money for climate adaptation than they did the year before. That meant less money for things like flood defenses, drought-resistant crops and early warning systems to help people evacuate emergencies.

The UN estimates the gap between how much money developing countries need to pay for adaptation projects, and the amount of public funding they're getting directly from wealthier countries and from institutions like the World Bank now stands at between $194 billion and $366 billion every year. Put another way, poorer countries need at least 10 times more money for climate adaptation than the $21.3 billion in public funding that they received in 2021.

The longer that gap persists and countries are forced to put off investments that could help blunt the impact of climate change, the more damage they're going to suffer . That reality led to the creation of a "loss and damage" fund at last year's annual UN climate negotiations, and the talks at COP28 later this year in the United Arab Emirates will focus on how to get the fund up and running.

"People do want to adapt, do see climate change coming, do know what to do — but there's no finance available to actually do it," says Pieter Pauw, a researcher at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands who was one of the authors of the UN report.

"So, we'll see things like we saw last year in Pakistan, where almost a third of the country was flooded," Pauw says, "partly because people are not adapted to climate change."

The flooding in Pakistan last summer killed at least 1,700 people and caused an estimated $14.9 billion in damage . Climate change makes heavy rain more common , because a hotter atmosphere can hold more moisture.

The UN released its report on climate funding days after an international group of scientists said countries probably won't hit a target they set to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to average temperatures in the late 1800s.

Beyond that point, scientists say it is more likely that the world will suffer catastrophic climate impacts, like mass extinctions and a significant rise in sea levels. Earth's average temperature over the past decade was about 1.1 degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial temperatures.

Global warming is "hitting some of these developing countries already quite hard," says Paul Watkiss, a climate change consultant and another author of the UN funding report. "By not providing adaptation finance, or countries not being able to put sufficient resources to do adaptation, it means it's impacting [their] development."

It isn't clear if the funding gap can be quickly filled. Developed countries previously said they would at least double their adaptation funding to around $40 billion annually by 2025. That's still just a fraction of what developing nations need.

While countries have another year to set new targets for climate finance , the UAE, which is hosting this year's UN climate summit, seems to be making the issue a priority, says Adrianna Hardaway, senior policy advisory for climate at Mercy Corps, a humanitarian group.

"I think that perhaps compared to previous years, we are seeing more attention dedicated to the fact that not only is there not enough climate finance, but that it's really not reaching the people and the places that it has to go most," Hardaway says.

Researchers say companies have also shown more interest in helping to make poorer countries more resilient to climate change, in part to protect their own supply chains. Efforts are also underway to get more climate funding to developing countries by changing how institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund operate.

"We've done the least to cause this problem, but it's still us who stands to suffer the most," says Wanjira Mathai, managing director of Africa and global partnerships at the World Resources Institute. "And so we have to put in place — quickly and swiftly — all of the adaptation strategies that we can and focus on making sure that we build resilience against the immediate danger of climate change."

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Clash Over ‘Fossil Fuels’ Pits U.A.E. Against Public Health Experts

A declaration on the public health impacts of climate change may lack two words: fossil fuels.

By Somini Sengupta

Can you talk about the health impacts of climate change without mentioning the burning of fossil fuels, its leading cause?

An intergovernmental declaration on the health impacts of climate change led by the United Arab Emirates, which is presiding over this year’s global climate talks, and circulated among countries for their potential endorsement, does just that.

Several public health experts sent an open letter Tuesday to Sultan al-Jaber, the U.A.E. oil company executive presiding over the talks, urging him to “commit to an accelerated, just and equitable phaseout of fossil fuels and invest in a renewable energy transition.”

It’s a prelude to one big fight likely to take place at this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference, pitting the Persian Gulf petrostate hosting the talks against leading public health experts.

“A full and rapid phaseout of fossil fuels is the most significant way to provide the clean air, water, and environment that are foundational to good health,” the letter continued. Its signatories include the heads of the International Council of Nurses, the international chapter of Doctors Without Borders and a consortium of health ministers from six Latin American countries.

The World Health Organization also recently called for “an acceleration in the phaseout of fossil fuels .”

Mr. al-Jaber, speaking to diplomats gathered in Abu Dhabi this week for preparatory meetings, acknowledged the “strong views about the idea of including language on fossil fuels” in the conference declarations. “We must be responsible,” he said. “We must be real. We must be true to the facts. We must be pragmatic.”

Public health is on the agenda for the first time at the climate talks that have taken place under the auspices of the United Nations every year since 1995. The declaration , prepared by the U.A.E. with input from other countries, commits countries to “prevent worsening health impacts from climate change,” help health systems adapt to climate-sensitive diseases and encourage them to reduce emissions from the health sector.

“We recognize the urgency of taking action on climate change, and note the benefits for health from deep, rapid, and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, including from just transitions, lower air pollution, active mobility, and shifts to sustainable healthy diets,” the text reads, without any mention of coal, oil or gas, the combustion of which causes air pollution and is increasing global temperatures.

The fight over fossil fuel language is likely to animate almost every aspect of this round of climate talks.

Climate activists have increasingly sharpened their message to call for an end to new oil and gas projects. A handful of countries, calling themselves the High Ambition Coalition, want nations to “phase out fossil fuel production and use. ”

In fact, investments in oil and gas are surging, including by the state-owned oil company that Mr. al-Jaber heads, known as ADNOC.

Mr. al-Jaber, who also chairs the Emirates’ biggest renewable energy company, has said he hoped that all countries would agree to a global goal of tripling renewable energy by 2030, and transition to “an energy system that is free of unabated fossil fuels.”

That “unabated” language, supported by the United States and the European Union , implies that fossil fuel production can continue so long as its emissions are captured. The problem is that wide-scale adoption of that kind of carbon capture technology remains a distant possibility for now.

In their letter to Mr. al-Jaber, the public health experts also took aim at the fossil fuel industry, accusing it of a “decades-long campaign of obstructing climate action.”

An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to the status of the health declaration. The text is final, not a draft, and has been circulated to countries that are parties to the United Nations climate change convention.

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Somini Sengupta is The Times’s international climate correspondent. She has also covered the Middle East, West Africa and South Asia and is the author of the book, “The End of Karma: Hope and Fury Among India’s Young.” More about Somini Sengupta

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