Why do we need to strengthen climate adaptations? Scenarios and financial lines of defence

Adaptation needs are vast, rising fast and difficult to determine in their entirety, especially with uncertain adverse scenarios due to climate inertia and implementation lags. Adaptation is hindered by a lack of a unified understanding of what it necessitates; the challenge in pointing out its costs, benefits, and residual risks; insufficiently prescriptive policy and legal frameworks; and the growing financing gap. Conversely, we now have better granular climate data to study the impacts of climate hazards and forecast climate risks; there is awareness that adaptation choices must be dynamic and reactive; and there is an increasing pool of case studies from which to learn. There is evidence that efficient adaptation investments can yield “triple-dividends” helping to close the financing gap. There is a need to absorb and smooth the impacts of rising extreme climate events. Innovative financial instruments, such as catastrophe bonds and climate bonds, might support challenged insurance coverages. JEL Classification: E52, Q54