BELÉM, Brazil — A group of countries is calling for a U.N. agreement to triple the amount of money for preventing the impacts of a hotter planet, as climate pollution keeps rising and funding for adaptation falls further behind.

The move to increase adaptation funding to $120 billion annually at the COP30 climate talks comes as wealthy nations have cut back international aid and as President Donald Trump moves to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, hampering global efforts to inject additional funding into climate actions.

Even before Trump took office, nations worldwide had a spotty record of meeting their financial commitments to lower pollution and offer interest-free funding for protective infrastructure, agriculture and ecosystems.

“Adaptation must move from vague aspirations to concrete action. It requires strong targets backed by finance, technology transfer and capacity building,” Sierra Leone’s climate and environment minister, Jiwoh Abdulai, told U.N. officials Monday.

Sierra Leone is among a group of least-developed countries, small island states and African nations that is trying to boost funding for projects that can protect people, property and crops from storms, drought and extreme heat. They’re also working to agree on a set of metrics that measure the effectiveness of adaptation funding — something that’s been used to promote money for reducing climate pollution for years.

Negotiators and officials say adaptation funding is more important as temperatures risk breaching the 1.5-degree-Celsius limit — the most ambitious aim of the Paris Agreement.

The call for tripling adaptation money would build on a 2021 commitment by wealthy countries to provide poorer nations with $40 billion in adaptation funding by 2025. A recent United Nations report predicted that goal would not be met. It found that $26 billion in adaptation funding flowed to countries in 2023, a fraction of the $310 billion that the U.N. estimates countries will need each year by 2035.

The move unfolding at COP30 comes a year after countries agreed to a vague commitment to boost climate finance from $100 billion to $300 billion annually by 2035 — for reducing pollution and increasing adaptation. Countries say it needs to be clear how much money would go toward adaptation and whether it will be offered as grants or loans, reflecting their concern about mounting debt.

Much of the interest-free funding they say they need is expected to flow through multilateral development banks and climate-focused institutions like the Green Climate Fund.

“Without an outcome that doesn’t just give us indicators — it also gives us money — everything we’re discussing here is symbolic. We will go back home and nothing tomorrow will change,” said Lina Yassin, an adaptation negotiator from Sudan who’s working with the least-developed country group.

Jennifer Morgan, Germany’s former climate envoy, said it is legitimate for the poorest, most vulnerable countries to ask for an agreement on the next round of adaptation funding as the previous goal expires.

The challenge will be getting donor countries on board.

“It’s really important, especially now, that countries like Japan, Australia, Canada, but also those that are able to do so [contribute],” Morgan said. “It’s about the wealthy Arab nations. It’s about, will China contribute as well?”

Finding donors is just one challenge. Another is ensuring that vulnerable countries can access the money quickly. Many have had to wait years for funding under current processes. They’re also pushing for changes to ensure poorer nations aren’t saddled with additional debt.

U.K. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband drew attention to those challenges earlier this week.

“If we are serious about supporting climate action, serious about supporting adaptation and resilience, the quantums matter, but also quality matters, access matters, the funds actually flowing matters,” he said during a renewable energy event in Belém.

For years, vulnerable countries warned they would need to adapt to climate dangers as global efforts to reduce warming pollution failed to gain traction. Now those dangers are here, they say, and more adaptation funding is needed.

They’re pushing for less paperwork and fewer reporting requirements, as well as faster, more efficient procedures to approve funding requests.

Evans Njewa from Malawi, who chairs the 44-member Least Developed Country Group said countries have already agreed to provide adaptation money. Now they need to deliver.

“If you need the resources now, you shouldn’t go through so much paperwork, procedures,” he said.

Karl Mathiesen contributed to this report.