The past decade has seen a surge in research and policy analysis on ways in which technology and finance can support mitigation. Similar studies for adaptation are much more recent, and their results therefore less mature. This is a potential bottleneck in the negotiations towards an agreement in Copenhagen. This paper aims to facilitate discussions on adaptation finance by presenting a summary overview of the current state of knowledge and policy initiatives, and by outlining a number of issues that would need to be considered in the negotiation process.