Countries must adapt more quickly for the impacts of the climate crisis or face growing risks of heatwaves, droughts and other extreme weather, the UN has warned. A new report, published on Thursday, warns that while the vast majority of nations have bolstered their plans for the effects of global warming, there remains a vast funding gap for developing countries, many of which are already disproportionately bearing the brunt of global heating.

World leaders and businesses are not putting enough money into adapting to dangerous changes in the climate and must “urgently step up action,” according to a report published Thursday by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). Last year was the joint-hottest year on record and disasters struck every continent. Smoke-belching wildfires burned through communities from Australia to the Arctic. Extreme storms battered coastal cities from the Philippines to Nicaragua, while floods put a third of Bangladesh underwater and covered entire villages in Nigeria.

Such a commitment would include investing in nature-based solutions to mitigate climate change, such as practices like replanting trees on degraded land, sequestering more carbon in soil through agricultural practices and protecting forests through changing logging practices. Nearly 75% of nations have adopted some form of climate adaption. But major gaps remain in financing for developing countries, which are most vulnerable to rising temperatures, as well as projects that have notably reduced climate risk, the report said.

Rich, highly carbon-polluting countries, in particular, need to up their investments for themselves and poorer countries as well. More than half of the adaptation projects that have been launched since 2015, the authors say, have been implemented by the world’s “least developed countries,” which the UN defines as low-income nations facing “severe structural impediments to sustainable development.” In particular, almost 15% of projects are located in small island developing states. They have minuscule carbon footprints but are likely to suffer some of the climate crisis’ worst effects, and in some cases, could become completely uninhabitable.

The urgent need to handle the covid-19 pandemic has not been great for pushing adaptation forward. The report notes that the economic fallout and focus on dealing with the pandemic has seen adaptation “fall down the political agenda at all levels of governance.” It could also lead to a long-term dip in the availability of money for much-needed projects.