28% of Covid-19 spend could harm climate adaptation

How to adapt to the impacts of climate change - and who should pay - was a key topic of debate at COP28. New research from the University of Oxford analyses 8,000 government policies across 88 countries to reveal how Covid-19 recovery spending contributed to climate adaptation and resilience. The research finds that only 10% of Covid-19 recovery spending was likely to enhance direct climate adaptation - though this rose to around 27% when potential indirect impacts were accounted for. However, nearly 28% of recovery spending could have negative impacts for adaptation, for example by locking-in non-resilient infrastructure. 'Calls to mainstream climate adaptation and resilience are not new, but it's clear from our research that this is not yet happening. We had high hopes that governments would deliver on their promise to 'build back better' but our analysis shows that instead we have missed opportunities to invest meaningfully in adaptation and resilience,' explains lead author Alexandra Sadler, Research Assistant in the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at University of Oxford. The study, published in Nature Sustainability , introduced and applied the world's most granular taxonomy for climate resilience and adaptation financing.