The Adaptation Gap Report (AGR) series provides an annual assessment on progress in adaptation planning, implementation and finance to inform key processes, notably under the UNFCCC. In line with this, the AGR 2024 continues to assess information on planning, implementation and finance (chapters 2, 3 and 4, respectively), to explore whether countries are collectively on track to adapt to the global challenge of climate change. The AGR 2024 extends its assessments in important ways compared with the previous AGRs. First, it includes a topical chapter to discuss the central issue of ‘means of implementation’ other than finance itself, namely capacity-building and technology transfer (see section 1.2 and chapter 5). Second, it further considers underlying causes and processes behind the numbers, as well as a more downscaled analysis of subnational adaptation action (sporadically using the example of cities).