EconPapers    
Economics at your fingertips  
 

Spending adaptation money wisely

Sam Fankhauser () and Ian Burton

Climate Policy, 2011, vol. 11, issue 3, 1037-1049

Abstract: Discussions about adaptation finance have largely concentrated on process: how money should be raised and how adaptation spending should be governed and monitored. This article seeks to move the focus of the debate towards the substance of adaptation by asking what 'good adaptation' in developing countries would look like. It is argued that the best use of funds in the short term may be for 'soft', less tangible developmental activities that increase adaptive capacity. Building a minimum level of adaptive capacity everywhere is central to efficient, effective and equitable adaptation, and yields immediate benefits irrespective of future climate regimes. A number of operational challenges in delivering this kind of adaptation are discussed, including a preoccupation with additionality - which makes the integration of adaptation and development harder - and a preference for 'concrete' and more readily visible adaptation projects. Although the question of whether and how the adaptation regime that is emerging from the Cancun Agreements will be able to deliver wise adaptation decisions is left open, the presented analysis recognizes that further institutional development is required.

Date: 2011
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (23)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/14693062.2011.582389 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
Working Paper: Spending adaptation money wisely (2011) Downloads
Working Paper: Spending adaptation money wisely (2011) Downloads
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:tcpoxx:v:11:y:2011:i:3:p:1037-1049

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/tcpo20

DOI: 10.1080/14693062.2011.582389

Access Statistics for this article

Climate Policy is currently edited by Professor Michael Grubb

More articles in Climate Policy from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().

 
Page updated 2025-03-22
Handle: RePEc:taf:tcpoxx:v:11:y:2011:i:3:p:1037-1049