New Publication Series: Effective Mobilization and application of Adaptation Finance

A house on stilts during flood

Photo © GIZ

Climate Change Adaptation has become a central concern for sustainable development and economic policy, especially in developing countries. At the same time, financing for adaptation constitutes only a small share of the overall global climate finance and by far falls short of projected finance needs.

A new publication series by adelphi about effective mobilization and application of adaptation finance seeks to contribute and advance the adaptation finance debate, support capacity building, and provide practical tools that facilitate implementation on the ground.They explain different roles of the private sector in adaptation, present innovative solutions for financing adaptation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and engage with the challenge of how adaptation finance can be more effectively steered to the local level.


“The Roles of the Private Sector in Climate Change Adaptation – An Introduction”

While the role and responsibilities of the public sector for supporting adaptation and building resilience have been in focus for a long time, awareness for the need to address and engage the private sector has steadily grown. This introduction shows that companies of any size, private associations and cooperatives, banks and investors as well as insurance companies can play three different roles in and for adaptation. They can adapt to climate change, finance climate adaptation of others and support others through products and services for resilience.

Please find the explainer here.


“Bottom-up Innovation for Adaptation Financing – New Approaches for Financing Adaptation Challenges Developed Through the Practitioners Labs Climate Finance”

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face significant adaptation financing challenges in many developing and emerging economies. This Innovation Brief presents six innovative bottom-up adaptation financing approaches from the SEED Practitioner Labs Climate Finance 2018 in India, Thailand and Uganda, and shares overarching learnings about challenges and solutions. Theapproches include among others microinsurances, financing models for climate-smart irrigation systems as well as information platforms and make use of innovative technologies, digital solutions and blockchain-based approaches.

Please find the brief here.


“Steering International Adaptation Finance Towards the Local Level”

This scoping paper presents several key challenges and potential solutions for channeling money from the international to the local level where it is most needed and likely to have the greatest impact. The analysis sheds light on promising elements of so-called elevator functions (strategies or operating principles that aim to channel funding effectively through vertical administrative levels) in existing financing mechanisms from different sectors that are potentially suitable for adaptation finance. Furthermore, the authors present options and recommendations for adaptation finance practitioners, project managers and experts from donor agencies and multilateral finance institutions in order to improve the steering of adaptation finance to the local level.

Please find the paper here.

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