DEPLOYING ADAPTATION FINANCE FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT

The briefing contends that the distinction between adaptation and development projects is counter-productive and that adaptation should be viewed as 'doing development differently in response to climate change.' It proposes a framework for maximizing the impact of scarce adaptation finance by establishing strong climate rationales, building national adaptive capacity across four key areas, and shifting toward devolved decision-making to empower local communities.

• There is a significant gap between the financial needs for climate adaptation in developing countries and the available supply; public finance for adaptation was $22 billion in 2016, while UN Environment estimates needs will reach $140-300 billion per year by 2030.
• The attempt by some funders, such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board, to strictly distinguish adaptation from development is unrealistic and can lead to maladaptive investments if climate risks are not integrated into sectoral planning for agriculture, health, and infrastructure.
• To maximize the impact of adaptation finance, project proponents and funders should employ a three-step process to establish a climate rationale: identifying climate risks and vulnerabilities, articulating how activities address those risks, and connecting activities to national and subnational policies.
• Effective national adaptive capacity requires four core capabilities: understanding climate risks and vulnerabilities, coordinating across ministries and sectors, managing information to drive activity, and the ability to prioritize and implement actions.
• Devolved decision-making, where resources are managed at local levels, increases long-term resilience; examples include Nepal's Local Adaptation Plans for Action and Kenya's County Climate Change Funds.
• Specialized climate funds, particularly the GCF, can model an integrated approach by using their Readiness Program for adaptive capacity, the Project Preparation Facility for climate rationales, and project funding to support devolved decision-making.

APA

Chan, C., & Amerasinghe, N. (2018). DEPLOYING ADAPTATION FINANCE FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT. World Resources Institute. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/wri-commentary-adaptation-finance.pdf

Chicago

Chan, Christina, and Niranjali Amerasinghe. DEPLOYING ADAPTATION FINANCE FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT. World Resources Institute, 2018. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/wri-commentary-adaptation-finance.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Chan |first1=Christina |last2=Amerasinghe |first2=Niranjali |title=DEPLOYING ADAPTATION FINANCE FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=September 2018 |url=https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/wri-commentary-adaptation-finance.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{chan2018deploying, author = {Chan, Christina and Amerasinghe, Niranjali}, title = {{DEPLOYING ADAPTATION FINANCE FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2018}, month = sep, url = {https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/wri-commentary-adaptation-finance.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }