Faculty Affairs and Academic Programs
Rebecca Perlman
Social Sciences; Public Policy; Public Affairs
The Adaptation Gap: Why Donors and Recipients Prioritize Different Types of Climate Aid
Climate change poses a growing threat around the world but nowhere more so than in developing countries, where rising seas and soaring temperatures are met by low capacity to adjust. Under the Paris Agreement, developed countries have pledged to provide funds to help developing countries adapt to the exigencies of climate change. Despite this, the provision of funds has drastically fallen short of need. Moreover, even though most developing countries contribute very little to global greenhouse gases, developed countries have prioritized emission reduction assistance over and above adaptation spending, an allocation that seemingly goes against the preferences of aid recipients. This project seeks to probe this apparent disconnect. Through an ambitious set of survey experiments spanning both developing and developed countries and that target those actually tasked with distributing climate aid, the project will shed light on both the demand- and supply-side determinants of rich countries’ allocations of climate funds, while also investigating what factors might help better align the priorities of donors and recipients.
