Equity and cost-effectiveness of multilateral adaptation finance: are they friends or foes?

This research paper examines the tension between equity and cost-effectiveness in the allocation of international climate change adaptation funding, specifically analyzing 39 project documents considered by the Adaptation Fund Board in 2011.

• The authors identify three indicators for equity—vulnerability level, poverty, and equal funding per capita—and three for cost-effectiveness: absolute economic savings, relative economic savings, and human lives saved.
• An analysis of 39 project documents considered by the Adaptation Fund Board in 2011 shows that approved or endorsed projects rank high for absolute economic savings but rank low for all equity indicators and other cost-effectiveness indicators.
• While a purely economic definition of cost-effectiveness typically contradicts equity, the authors suggest that trade-offs can be minimized by using human life savings or relative economic savings as cost-effectiveness indicators.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2013). Equity and cost-effectiveness of multilateral adaptation finance: are they friends or foes? https://www.sei.org/publications/equity-and-cost-effectiveness-of-multilateral-adaptation-finance-are-they-friends-or-foes-2/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Equity and cost-effectiveness of multilateral adaptation finance: are they friends or foes? 2013. https://www.sei.org/publications/equity-and-cost-effectiveness-of-multilateral-adaptation-finance-are-they-friends-or-foes-2/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Equity and cost-effectiveness of multilateral adaptation finance: are they friends or foes? |date=24 January 2013 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/equity-and-cost-effectiveness-of-multilateral-adaptation-finance-are-they-friends-or-foes-2/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2013equity, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Equity and cost-effectiveness of multilateral adaptation finance: are they friends or foes?}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2013}, month = jan, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/equity-and-cost-effectiveness-of-multilateral-adaptation-finance-are-they-friends-or-foes-2/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }