Allocation of Climate Funds and the Adaptation Infrastructure Gap
Keywords:
climate finance, adaptation, infrastructure investment, resilience, climate change
Abstract
Global climate adaptation financing schemes represent one of the most promising developments in climate finance for developing nations. Recently, there has been concern that the emergence of a competitive mechanism for the allocation of adaptation funds has un-leveled the playing field to qualify for funds because the most climate vulnerable countries also have the greatest capacity gaps to attract and leverage climate finance. However, without a comparable, consistent definition of vulnerability across countries, it has been difficult to verify this conjecture. In this paper, I take a quantifiable approach to assess the link between the allocation of finance and adaptation needs drawing on newly constructed adaptation costs in the Pacific SIDS. I find that adaptation funds do not adequately meet adaptation needs in several of these nations, opening up an adaptation infrastructure gap that global climate policies must address.
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References
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Amerasinghe, N., Thwaites, J., Larnsen, G., & Ballesteros, A. (2017). The Future of the Funds. World Resources Institutes. Retrieved from https://www.wri.org/research/future-funds-exploring-architecture-multilateral-climate-finance
Asafu-Adjaye, J. (2008). Environmental Quality and Economic Growth: The Case of Pacific Island Countries. South Pacific Studies, 29(1), 43-62.
Betzold, C., & Weiler, F (2017). Allocation of aid for adaptation to climate change: Do vulnerable countries receive more support? International Environmental Agreements, 17, 17–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10784-016-9343-8
Brown, L., Polycarp, C., & Spearman, M. (2013). Within reach: strengthening country ownership and accountability in accessing climate finance. World Resources Institute, United Nations Environmental Program. Retrieved from https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/ownership_and_accountability_final_paper.pdf
Doku, I., Ncwadi, R., & Phiri, A. (2021). Determinants of climate finance: analysis of recipient characteristics in Sub-Sahara Africa. Cogent Economics and Finance, 9, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2021.1964212
Doshi, D., & Garschagen, M. (2020). Understanding adaptation finance allocation: which factors enable or constrain vulnerable countries to access funding? Sustainability, 12, 4308-20. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12104308
Garschagen, M., Doshi, D., Reith, J., & Hagenlocher, M. (2021). Global patterns of disaster and climate risk—an analysis of the consistency of leading index-based assessments and their results. Climatic Change, 169, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03209-7
GCF (2016). Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project. Green Climate Fund. Retrieved from https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/funding-proposal-fp015-undp-tuvalu.pdf
IMF (2021a). Unlocking Climate Finance Access for Pacific-Island Countries. IMF Departmental Paper, International Monetary Fund, Washington DC.
IMF (2021b). Fiscal Policies to Address Climate Change in Asia and the Pacific. IMF Departmental Paper, International Monetary Fund, Washington DC.
Kalaidjian, E., & Robinson S. A. (2022). Reviewing the Nature and Pitfalls of Multilateral Adaptation Finance for Small Island Developing States. Climate Risk Management, 36, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2022.100432
Klein, R. & Mohner, A. (2011). The political dimension of vulnerability: implications for the Green Climate Fund. IDS bulletin, 42(3), 15-22. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1759-5436.2011.00218.x
Klock, C (2015). Adapting to climate change in small island developing states. Climate Change, 133, 25-40. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-015-1408-0
Koks, E., Rozenberg, J., Zorn, C., & Tariverdi, M. (2019). A Global Multi-hazard Risk Analysis of Road and Railway Infrastructure Assets. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10442-3
Martinez, G., & Christiansen, L. (2018). Adaptation metrics: perspectives on measuring, aggregating and comparing adaptation results. Retrieved from https://c2e2.unepdtu.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/udp-perspectives-adaptation-metrics-web-1.pdf
Masullo, I., Larsen, G., & Brown, L. (2015). “Direct Access” to Climate Finance: Lessons Learned by National Institutions. Retrieved from https://www.wri.org/research/direct-access-climate-finance-lessons-learned-national-institutions
Nunn, P. (2012). Climate Change and Pacific Island Countries. Asia-Pacific Human Development Report. United Nations Development Program. Retrieved from https://www.uncclearn.org/wp-content/uploads/library/undp303.pdf
OECD (2015). Toolkit to Enhance Access to Adaptation Finance for Developing Countries. Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/environment/cc/Toolkit%20to%20Enhance%20Access%20to%20Adaptation%20Finance.pdf
Robinson, S. A. (2018). Adapting to Climate Change at the National Level in Caribbean Small Islands Developing States. Island Studies Journal, 13, 79-100. https://doi.org/10.24043/isj.59
Swiss Development Cooperation (2021). How to access the Green Climate Fund. Retrieved from https://www.shareweb.ch/site/Climate-Change-and-Environment/Documents/How%20to%20access%20the%20Green%20Climate%20Fund-2021.pdf
Tanner, T., Bisht, H., Quevedo, A., Malik, M., Nadiruzzaman, M., & Biswas, S. (2019). Enabling access to the Green Climate Fund: Sharing country lessons from South Asia. http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/rg.2.2.35409.79207
Tiedemann, J., Piatkov, V, Prihardini, D., Benitez J, & Zdzienicka A (2021). Meeting the Sustainable Development Goals in Small Developing States with Climate Vulnerabilities: Cost and Financing. IMF Working Paper 21/62, International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3852788
UNESCAP (2020). The Disaster Riskscape across the Pacific Small Island Developing States. United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia-Pacific. Retrieved from https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/IDD-APDR-Subreport-Pacific-SIDS.pdf
Wang, F, Ford, J, Lesnikowski, A, Chen, C, Berrang-Ford, L, Biesbroek, G., & Huq, S. (2018). Assessing stakeholder needs for adaptation tracking. Adaptation Metrics, 1, 49-61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.11.001
Weiler, F., Klöck, C., & Dornan, M. (2018). Vulnerability, good governance, or donor interests? The allocation of aid for climate change adaptation. World Development, 104, 65-77.
Yeo, S. (2019). Green Climate Fund attracts record US $9.8 billion for developing nations. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-03330-9
Zamarioli, L., Pauw, P., & Grüning, C. (2020). Country ownership as the means for paradigm shift: the case of the green climate fund. Sustainability, 12, 5714-22. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145714
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2022-07-05
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