TRACKING ADAPTATION FINANCE

This guide, produced by the Adaptation Finance Accountability Initiative (AFAI), provides a five-step methodology for civil society organizations (CSOs) to track climate change adaptation finance. It aims to improve transparency and accountability by helping CSOs gather evidence on funding flows from international donors to local communities, ultimately informing evidence-based advocacy to ensure resources reach the most vulnerable populations.

• There is a significant gap between the estimated costs of climate adaptation in developing countries and actual funding levels. While the World Bank estimated a need for $70 billion to $100 billion per year in 2010, and UNEP suggested costs could be four to five times higher, global funding for adaptation was estimated at around $25 billion in 2014.
• Defining 'adaptation finance' is challenging because the relevance of an activity depends on local context. AFAI suggests that for a project to be considered adaptation, it must help people deal with present or future climate impacts, which requires an understanding of local vulnerability and a clear statement of intent.
• The guide proposes a five-step process for CSOs to track adaptation finance: 1) Analyze the national climate change adaptation context; 2) Compile and analyze international adaptation finance data; 3) Map funding flows; 4) Set tracking objectives and select funds for detailed national tracking; and 5) Design tailored tools for local tracking.
• The OECD Creditor Reporting System (CRS) and Rio markers are primary tools for identifying international adaptation finance, though they may provide only high-level information and can be incomplete, such as the omission of Asian Development Bank activities in some overviews.
• AFAI identifies five key principles of accountability for adaptation finance: Transparency (access to information), Ownership (stakeholder decision-making), Responsiveness (meeting needs of the most vulnerable), Participation (meaningful input), and Equity (rectifying social inequalities).
• Tracking research often reveals a disconnect between official policy and actual practice. In the Philippines, AFAI found that between 2009 and 2012, international donors committed over $350 million for adaptation, yet the government lacked sufficient oversight to track these funds.
• To track funds at the local level, the guide recommends a mix of qualitative and quantitative tools, including key informant interviews, focus group discussions, field observation, and community service delivery scorecards.
• The guide outlines a strategy for evidence-based advocacy, which involves selecting a specific policy issue, identifying primary and secondary targets, setting SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound) goals, and conducting stakeholder power analysis.

APA

CARVALHO, A. P., & TERPSTRA, P. (2015). TRACKING ADAPTATION FINANCE. World Resources Institute. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/AdaptationFinance_Rev3_SglPgs_webFINAL.pdf

Chicago

CARVALHO, ANNAKA PETERSON, and PIETER TERPSTRA. TRACKING ADAPTATION FINANCE. World Resources Institute, 2015. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/AdaptationFinance_Rev3_SglPgs_webFINAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=CARVALHO |first1=ANNAKA PETERSON |last2=TERPSTRA |first2=PIETER |title=TRACKING ADAPTATION FINANCE |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=2015 |url=https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/AdaptationFinance_Rev3_SglPgs_webFINAL.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{carvalho2015tracking, author = {CARVALHO, ANNAKA PETERSON and TERPSTRA, PIETER}, title = {{TRACKING ADAPTATION FINANCE}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2015}, url = {https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/AdaptationFinance_Rev3_SglPgs_webFINAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }