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>

核心实证论文（Fankhauser与McDermott，2014）采用国别-年份层面的自然灾害面板数据，估算不同收入水平国家对灾害风险的适应程度。该研究据此阐释了所谓“适应差距（adaptation gap）”的成因与本质——即低收入国家的灾害适应水平普遍低于高收入国家这一观测现象。
本CCCEP项目从经济学视角出发，探究了与气候韧性发展、气候变化适应相关的政策挑战。研究共包含三大核心方向：第一组论文分析了经济发展、收入增长与气候变化脆弱性之间的关联，探究经济发展在何种程度上会提升或降低发展中国家面临的气候变化风险；第二组论文测算为经济发展路径实现气候适配所需的额外成本，换言之即适应行动的成本规模；第三类研究属于规范分析范畴，为适应规划制定与适应资金分配提供了政策建议。