2021 was the year in which climate change clearly manifested itself as a serious threat to humanity – not just in the long term, but in the here and now. Climate impacts hit the world with a new ferocity. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, meanwhile, warned that there is a stronger chance of a global temperature rise exceeding 1.5°C within the next two decades. So, even as the world looks to step up efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions – efforts that are still nowhere near strong enough, the sixth edition of the UNEP Adaptation Gap Report: The Gathering Storm finds that the growth in climate impacts is far outpacing our efforts to adapt to them. • New evidence suggests that the 1.5°C aspirational target of the Paris Agreement will likely be missed while some climate impacts are already irreversible, highlighting the urgent need to adapt. • There is an urgent need to step up climate adaptation finance. However, the finance needed to implement adaptation plans is still far short of where it should be. • COVID-19 recovery stimulus packages present a window of opportunity for green and resilient recoveries, but these opportunities are not currently being realized. • Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change adaptation is increasingly being embedded in policy and planning across the world. • Implementation of adaptation actions is continuing to grow slowly worldwide despite uncertainty about future trajectories. • Overall, progress in national-level adaptation planning, finance and implementation worldwide continues to grow, and may be partially accelerating, but further ambition is needed.