Equity and Efficiency in the Adaptation Fund: Prioritizing Among the ‘Particularly Vulnerable’

This policy brief by the Stockholm Environment Institute evaluates the allocation of resources by the Adaptation Fund as of June 2012. It argues that the lack of a clear, agreed-upon definition of "particularly vulnerable" undermines the fund's ability to ensure equity and efficiency in distributing scarce adaptation finance.

• The Adaptation Fund lacks a formal definition of "particularly vulnerable," as the Parties to the UNFCCC have not defined the term and the Fund Board has chosen to defer to the UNFCCC rather than create its own.
• An analysis of 48 proposals submitted by June 2012 (including 25 approved) reveals that funding has been granted to countries with diverse socio-economic conditions and varying levels of physical exposure to climate change.
• There is no transparent, formal methodology for allocating funds between countries or sub-national projects; instead, project proponents define their own vulnerability and benefits, making proposals difficult to compare.
• The Fund has prioritized concrete adaptation measures over analytical work, with the most frequent sectors being agriculture and water, followed by disaster risk reduction and coastal management.
• Regional distribution of proposals and approvals has been relatively even across Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Asia and Pacific region, with LDCs and SIDS accounting for 52% of applications and 56% of approved projects.
• The Adaptation Fund Board uses seven allocation criteria to prioritize projects, including level of vulnerability, urgency, and adaptive capacity, but applies these on a case-by-case basis without a standardized system.

APA

Remling, E., Persson, Å., & Davis, M. (2012). Equity and Efficiency in the Adaptation Fund: Prioritizing Among the ‘Particularly Vulnerable’. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/sei-pb-2012-adaptation-fund-vulnerability.pdf

Chicago

Remling, Elise, Åsa Persson, and Marion Davis. Equity and Efficiency in the Adaptation Fund: Prioritizing Among the ‘Particularly Vulnerable’. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2012. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/sei-pb-2012-adaptation-fund-vulnerability.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Remling |first1=Elise |last2=Persson |first2=Åsa |last3=Davis |first3=Marion |title=Equity and Efficiency in the Adaptation Fund: Prioritizing Among the ‘Particularly Vulnerable’ |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=2012 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/sei-pb-2012-adaptation-fund-vulnerability.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{remling2012equity, author = {Remling, Elise and Persson, Åsa and Davis, Marion}, title = {{Equity and Efficiency in the Adaptation Fund: Prioritizing Among the ‘Particularly Vulnerable’}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2012}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/sei-pb-2012-adaptation-fund-vulnerability.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }