Climate resilience policy made easy
The economics of climate change adaptation in Europe involves important decision areas such as how to manage extreme weather events caused by climate change. Such events can have high economic and social costs in the short term. Other key decision areas include projects where the costs of climate risks have long-term effects. Recent studies show how important it is to consider the costs of uncertainty that comes with policy implementation. The EU-funded ECONADAPT (Economics of climate change adaptation in Europe) initiative set out to simplify the process of measuring economic risks for climate adaptation policies in the EU in the face of uncertainty. The researchers worked to apply the EU’s 2013 Adaptation Strategy, focusing on key decision areas that need more economic information. ECONADAPT applied a two-tier approach to provide detailed guidance and empirical data to other economists and policymakers. The team developed a policy-led analysis method, and then applied adaptation economics to this. Researchers made sure to collate the knowledge base with the costs and benefits of adaptation. Researchers improved methods to assess adaptive capacity, and methods to scale and aggregate cost and benefit values. ECONADAPT also applied techniques for effective decision-making under uncertainty to adaptation economics, and tried to apply their new methods to real-world applications. With climate change putting pressure on national budgets, researchers considered the costs and benefits of an early response to increasing frequency of climate change-driven disasters. ECONADAPT developed guidance for economic project appraisal via case studies of river flooding and sea-level rise. The team also completed a case study in the agriculture sector and developed guidance for policy appraisal. ECONADAPT looked at the economic effects of market-driven and planned adaptation, using macroeconomic modelling to assess economic consequences of adaptations from a top-down perspective. Researchers developed policy appraisal frameworks for international climate finance in developing countries, and they applied this work in various case studies. Finally, ECONADAPT compiled all of the information, methods, insights and guidance into a web-based library and policy toolbox, available on the project website.
Keywords
Climate change adaptation, policy implementation, ECONADAPT, economic risks, adaptation economics
