The Governance of Adaptation Financing: Pursuing Legitimacy at Multiple Levels

The study examines the legitimacy of climate change adaptation funds in the Asia-Pacific region, identifying that these funds rely on diverse sources of legitimacy such as ethics, transparency, and effectiveness. It finds that while funds are often justified by their benefit to vulnerable groups, they are primarily legitimized to state actors. The emergence of a multi-level financing architecture presents both new legitimacy challenges and opportunities to improve ground-level outcomes through better access for vulnerable communities.

• Adaptation funds utilize several distinct sources of legitimacy, including effectiveness, coherence, accountability, transparency, participation and deliberation, and ethical or justice-based arguments. The authors note that strengthening one of these sources can create either synergies or trade-offs with others.
• Despite the fact that projects and funds are justified based on their ability to assist communities and vulnerable groups, the primary target for the legitimization of national and international adaptation funds is state actors.
• International financing has established adaptation as a key policy and development objective. While the resulting multi-level financing architecture introduces new legitimacy challenges, it also offers the potential for better local outcomes if access for vulnerable groups and communities is prioritized.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2017). The Governance of Adaptation Financing: Pursuing Legitimacy at Multiple Levels. https://www.sei.org/publications/the-governance-of-adaptation-financing-pursuing-legitimacy-at-multiple-levels/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. The Governance of Adaptation Financing: Pursuing Legitimacy at Multiple Levels. 2017. https://www.sei.org/publications/the-governance-of-adaptation-financing-pursuing-legitimacy-at-multiple-levels/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=The Governance of Adaptation Financing: Pursuing Legitimacy at Multiple Levels |date=22 February 2017 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/the-governance-of-adaptation-financing-pursuing-legitimacy-at-multiple-levels/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2017governance, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{The Governance of Adaptation Financing: Pursuing Legitimacy at Multiple Levels}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2017}, month = feb, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/the-governance-of-adaptation-financing-pursuing-legitimacy-at-multiple-levels/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }