11. February 2019 How do we finance adaptation to climate change?



Electricity and heat production, transport, deforestation and livestock farming cause greenhouse gas emissions and contribute towards global climate change. Researchers have long agreed that current and future measures to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions will not be sufficient to prevent serious climate impacts for especially at-risk groups of people. It is now up to us to reduce future damage by adapting to climate change. Which measures are suited to such adaptations and how to finance them are the focus of an interdisciplinary workshop from 6 to 8 March, which is being organised by the Chair for Environmental Philosophy and Ethics at Kiel University (CAU). Anyone who is interested in this topic is welcome to attend the event, which will be held in English and will host international experts.

 

The workshop will concentrate specifically on the global south, where the majority of the at-risk people live. "There is often a lack of technological and financial means to implement adaptation to climate change in these areas. The people rely on support from other countries and the according commitments in international climate negotiations," knows Dr Christian Baatz, co-organiser of the workshop at the CAU and postdoc at the Kiel Cluster of Excellence "Future Ocean". German cooperation for development can also provide urgently required aid in this context. However, the environmental ethicist adds that "money provided by the international community is not enough to finance important adaptation measures". Dr Baatz addresses the distribution of funds to adapt to increasing sea levels using the example of small island states, as part of his research project which is supported by the Future Ocean.

But who has the biggest claim to the international funds? How are they distributed at the moment? And how should they be managed? In order to find answers to these questions, the workshop brings renowned scientists from various disciplines to the table. Experts from Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden and Mexico will be putting their research up for discussion on topics such as current tender award procedures, the governance of adaptation payments and criteria for fair distribution of these payments.

The event is receiving financial support from the Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hamburg as part of the "Young Science Forum" and from the CAU's Graduate Center. Taking part in a workshop is free of charge.
Please register for the full workshop or individual days at financing.adaptation@posteo.de.

Key facts:
Workshop: "Climate Change Adaptation Finance: How to Govern and Distribute Scarce Funding?"
Date: 6. to 8.3.2019
Time: all day
Place: Kiel, Leibnizstraße 1, Room 105

To the programme (PDF):
www.uni-kiel.de/de/pressemitteilungen/2019/045-programme-workshop.pdf