Synergies between adaptation and mitigation in climate change finance

Abstract

Purpose – As adaptation and mitigation are separated in international and national policies, there is also a division in the financial resources mobilized by the international community to help developing countries deal with climate change. Given that mitigation activities can benefit or hinder adaptation, and vice versa, promoting activities that contribute to both objectives can increase the efficiency of fund allocation and minimize trade-offs, particularly in land-related activities such as agriculture and forestry. The purpose of this study is to analyze how climate funding organizations consider the integration of adaptation and mitigation. Design/methodology/approach – The authors interviewed representatives of climate funds directed toward forestry and agriculture to gain a better understanding of how they perceive the benefits, risks and barriers of an integrated approach; whether they have concrete activities for promoting this approach; and how they foresee the future of adaptation–mitigation integration. Findings – Interviews revealed a diverse range of perceived benefits, risks and barriers at local, national and global scales. Most interviewees focused on the local benefits of this integration (e.g. increasing the resilience of forest carbon projects), whereas others emphasized global risks (e.g. decreasing global funding efficiency because of project complexity). Despite the general interest in projects and policies integrating adaptation and mitigation, few relevant actions have been implemented by organizations engaged in climate change finance. Originality/value – This paper provides new insight into how the representatives of climate funds perceive and act on the integration of adaptation and mitigation in forestry and agriculture. The findings by the authors can inform the development of procedures for climate change finance, such as the Green Climate Fund. While managers of climate funds face barriers in promoting an integrated approach to adaptation and mitigation, they also have the capacity and the ambition to overcome them.

Arcs of carbon awareness in the value chain and their antecedents

“…Although financial firms' direct GGE impact may be comparatively small (Busch, ), their investment decisions can have a large “carbon shadow” (Ritchie & Dowlatabadi, ). Financial institutions are critical to promoting investments for transitioning to a low‐carbon economy, especially in developing countries (Locatelli, Fedele, Fayolle, & Baglee, ). Our finding that financial firms are less able to report their VCGGE suggests that much of the carbon footprint of their investment and lending decisions remain unclear.…”

Sustainable Forest Management, FLEGT, and REDD+: Exploring Interlinkages to Strengthen Forest Policy Coherence

“…Hence, separate guidance, requirements, and reporting formats prevail. Second, the issue of interlinkages or synergies is still a relatively new issue at the global level and it has not yet filtered down to the lower levels of governance (see also [100,101]). Third, there is limited communication between the main actors of SFM, FLEGT, and REDD+ at global and national/subnational levels.…”

“…Third, there is limited communication between the main actors of SFM, FLEGT, and REDD+ at global and national/subnational levels. Fourth, there is a lack of resources and defined financial mechanisms for efforts to maximize synergies among the three at global and national/subnational levels [16,100,101]). Fifth, beyond the environmental domain, the World Trade Organization's global trade policies have created constraints on the advancement of goals under multilateral environmental agreements [58], and it is recognized that the effectiveness of SFM, FLEGT and REDD+ can be impacted by other sectoral policies, such as agriculture [102].…”

A match made in Paris: Adaptation-mitigation synergies in the land sector

“…Some consider that risks associated with mitigation projects can be addressed through the inclusion and integration of adaptation, particularly, through ensuring the permanence of emissions reductions and benefits for local communities. This study found that an integrated approach has the potential to increase efficiency in the use of the limited available financial resources and allow for greater economies of scale through delivery of multiple benefits (Locatelli et al 2016). …”

“…Some donors hold the view that an overemphasis on integration or synergies and trying to "do everything" could lead to overlooking important issues or could create projects that are overly complex, for example, through more complex monitoring and reporting requirements. An important risk identified is that adaptation finance may be redirected to mitigation actions in circumstances where adaptation funding is already insufficient (Locatelli et al 2016). …”