Adaptation and climate-resilient development 1980-2008

The main empirical paper (Fankhauser and McDermott 2014) uses panel data on natural disasters at the country-year level to estimate the degree of adaptation to disaster risks observed in countries with different income levels. This information is then used to explain the origin and nature of the so-called adaptation gap: the observation that low-income countries tend to have lower levels of adaptation than high-income countries.<p>This CCCEP project explored, from an economics angle, policy challenges related to climate-resilient development and adaptation to climate change. There were three main lines of enquiry. A first set of papers analysed the link between economic development, income growth and vulnerability to climate change. They explored to what extent economic development might increase or decrease the climate change risks faced by developing countries. A second set of papers analysed what the extra costs might be of climate-proofing economic development paths, in other words, what the costs of adaptation could be. The third strand of work was normative and developed recommendations for adaptation planning and the allocation of adaptation finance.</p>