Environmental Change Institute (ECI), University of Oxford’s Post

The fiscal case for investing in adaptation is clear. Yesterday, we launched our new analyses on the role of fiscal policy in adaptation and resilience. The full report is now available: https://lnkd.in/erQ4dYmi Adaptation and growth are sometimes pitched in opposition, our new analyses challenges this assumption and lays out clear evidence of the fiscal benefits of investing in adaptation. A key conclusion is that there is a false dichotomy between debt sustainability, growth and investment in adaptation. The evidence also prompts us to move away from a focus on the 'numbers' - i.e. equating adaptation need to public investment gaps - and instead focus on the outcomes. Building resilience is not just about hard investments – like investing in sea walls – it requires effective fiscal and wider policies designed to absorb shocks when they occur, ensure countries can bounce back and recover quickly, and enable action across the wider economy. We outline for priority areas for fiscal policy: 💰 Integrate: integrating adaptation into the diagnostics that underpin debt sustainability and policy appraisal, into risk management and financing, 💰 Align: aligning public spending with climate resilience goals, 💰 Enable: enabling societal action through clear goals, effective policy and information 💰 Mobilise: maximising public finance through effective policy to mobilise private investment in adaptation Thank you to all those who attended our launch webinar, to our valued partners at the UN Environment Programme, Himanshu Sharma and Green Fiscal Policy Network, and to our excellent panellists: Dirk Heine, Cristina Rumbaitis del Rio and Joaquim L R Ferreira Leite. Many congratulations to my co-authors at the Environmental Change Institute (ECI), University of Oxford: Mark Bernhofen, Matt Burke, Mathias Weidinger, Juan Sabuco, Matthias Wildemeersch, Dr. Roosa Lambin, Akaraseth Puranasamriddhi and Roberto S.