Devising clear strategies to deploy billions in funding for climate adaptation is crucial for nations across Asia, according to a United Nations official responsible for overseeing policy development.

The annual cost of adaptation — efforts to protect assets against the impacts of extreme weather — is forecast to be as much as $340 billion in developing nations alone by 2030, and the sector is drawing fresh attention from banks and investors as an alternative to emissions-reduction projects.

Countries in Asia are among the most vulnerable to climate change and “national adaptation plans are so essential to build resilience and protect progress,” Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change said in a video message to the Ecosperity Week conference in Singapore.

The region “needs fit for purpose solutions grounded in regional realities, and that requires a serious shift in how and where capital flows”, he said.

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Signatories to the Paris Agreement are expected to file adaptation strategies with the UN this year. A total of 63 developing countries, including 19 in the Asia-Pacific region, have so far submitted their plans, according to UN data.