Esbern Friis-Hansen
(Danish Institute for International Studies, DIIS)
Format:
Panel
Streams:
Climate & ecosystems
Urbanisation
Sessions:
Wednesday 6 July, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Devolved finance of climate change adaptation in urban settlements.
Panel P41 at conference DSA2022: Just sustainable futures in an urbanising and mobile world.
This panel invites papers that critically examine the extent to which finance of climate change adaptation is devolved national to local government level and political economy of local government implementation of climate change adaptation support.
Long Abstract:
Since the Paris Agreement in 2015, adaptation debates have increasingly shifted from focusing narrowly on finance to considerations around governance of programming, implementation and impact of support for climate change mitigation and adaptation. The character of finance for climate change adaptation and debates around it are currently in a time of potentially significant transition. Much focus of COP negotiations has been on agreeing on a common rulebook and on ensuring Global South access to finance for Climate Change Action. These goals have now by and large been reached and international attention is now shifting to how and at what scale climate change actions take place and are governed.
How finance is shared between mitigation and adaptation and between middle income countries and LDCs is highly skewed with most going to mitigation in middle-income countries, while 41% of finance to Least Developed Countries in 2018 was focused on adaptation objectives, representing 6% of total climate change finance (OECD 2020). Initial studies indicate that the vast majority of finance for climate change adaptation in Least Developed Countries is currently used and governed at international and national levels. We lack, however, robust national-level data. The Panel invite papers with trustworthy data on the extent to which finance for adaptation is devolved, i.e., governed and used at central ministry or at sub-national levels.
The panel argue that devolved governance of climate change adaptation leads to a less skewed spatial distribution of financial resources, although devolution alone may not alleviate political conflict and produce solutions that are better tailored to local conditions. Few studies have focused on the political economy of climate change adaptation at local government level and fieldwork-based research is needed fill this knowledge gap. The panel invite papers on the political economy of local government implementation of climate change adaptation support.
Methodology
The panel will select 3-5 panelists who each will contribute a paper (between 1,200 and 1,800 words, excluding references) and a pre-recorded presentation (between 8-12 minutes). All panelists and participants will be asked to read the papers prior to the conference. In the first 20 minutes the convenors will outline the key questions raised by the papers and presentations. Then, each presenter will give a 2min pitch summarising their key argument and another 2min to address one of the key questions raised by the convenor. After this follows 20 minutes open discussion among the audience and panelists with convenors’ moderation. Participants will be asked to limit interventions to 2-3 minutes.
This paper analyze the climate change adaptation relevance of the Tanzanian national budget (from 2014 to 2021), using the same methodology applied in a previous study (Yanda et al 2013). The study further assess the degree to which climate change adaptation finance is devolved to local government.
Paper long abstract:
In Tanzania, climate change adaptation is financed by international development assistance and by nationally generated revenue. While international development assistance is registered by OECD and climate change adaptation relevance tagged by donors, the proportion of the nationally generated revenue that is climate change adaptation relevant is unknown. This paper analyze the climate change adaptation relevance of the national budget (from 2014 to 2021), using the same methodology applied in a previous study (Yanda et al 2013). The study further assess the degree to which climate change adaptation finance is devolved to local government.
The study finds that a dis-appropriately high proportion of climate adaptation finance is used at central government levels, because of priority setting being made at the ministry level. The study moreover finds that local governments lack discretion over climate change adaptation finance due to the country's highly centralized policies, practices and procedures. Qualitative fieldwork indicate that nearly all climate change finance accessed by local government comes with a central government tag (directives) on how to use it.
This paper analyses development expenditures by the Kenyan Ministries based on the Kenya National Budget data and the most relevant expenditure for financing climate activities and the enablers of the same.
Paper long abstract:
The paper analyses one of the four main types of expenditures of the Kenya National Budget namely the Development Expenditures (DE) from the Kenyan Ministries that are most relevant for funding climate activities. The climate-related expenditures tracked represent 18% of development expenditures or 3.3% of the cumulative Government expenditures for FY 2017/18. This analysis is based on data obtained directly from the Integrated Financial Management and Information System (IFMIS) of the National Treasury of Kenya. The Government disbursed KES 76 billion in climate-related development expenditures in the FY 2017/18.
Kenya is divided into 47 counties that are governed by county governments that are distinct from the national government. The county governments generate both their own revenue and receive allocations from the national government based on an approved revenue allocation formula.
In this regard, the research team is using Makueni County as a case study to understand level of devolution by analyzing the streams of income from the development expenditures from the national budget to the county budget that are financing climate related programs and activities at the county levels. Preliminary analysis shows a strong correlation between the climate friendly policies and the flow of funds for climate change at the county level. Other factors include the establishment of a local climate change fund through the Climate Change Fund Mechanism (CCCF). These factors have enabled the counties to create, access, and use climate finance to build communities' resilience and reduce vulnerabilities to climate change in a coordinated way.
The article analyses the nature of international adaptation finance received in Kenya and Tanzania with particular emphasis on the extent to which the projects were devolved and thus potentially more responsive to local governments and communities' local priorities for climate change adaption.
Paper long abstract:
The article analyses the nature of international adaptation finance received in Kenya and Tanzania with emphasis on the extent to which the projects were devolved and thus potentially more responsive to local governments and communities' local priorities.
The analysis is based on the OECD database of projects in the period 2013-2019 with projects selected based on their financial value, measured as "adaptation-related development finance". During this period Tanzania received 2.0 billion USD as Adaptation-related development finance, whereas Kenya received 3.3 billion USD.
In each country the research team selected the most valuable projects that jointly constitute 70% of total adaption related development finance in the two countries. A method for analysis of the project documents to measure degree of devolution was developed with 3 main parameters: (i) the extent to which finance was managed through local government accounts (ii) the extent to which the projects in respective national budgets were considered devolved and (iii) the use of participatory planning arrangements for management of the funds.
Given the recent Kenyan emphasis on devolution and strengthening of county planning, it was assumed that adaptation-related development finance would be relatively more devolved in Kenya than Tanzania, however preliminary analysis suggests otherwise. The analysis also suggests that projects classified by Development Partners as "adaptation-related development finance" in most cases only support very limited explicit local climate adaption activities.
The analysis is an initial step of work under a 4-year comparative research programme on the governance of climate change adaption finance in the two countries.
We will bring an understanding of multiple forms of adaptation finance in urban areas, and of their actors, decision-making mechanisms, and dynamic perspectives.
Paper long abstract:
Different forms of local financing adaptation initiative are emerging, including experimental multilateral mechanisms, attempts to broker the private 'viability' of adaptation projects via urban networks and bilateral donors, and community-based experiments. However, there is little investigation of these forms and their implications for an equitable adaptation. This research investigates three forms of adaptation finance (multilateral finance mechanisms, bilateral donor/network-brokered, and community-based experiments) and their interconnected powerful and influential actors, decision-making mechanisms, their long-term, complex, and dynamic perspectives, and the mainstreaming of climate science into adaptation finance. The research proposes two conceptual frames. The first frame is 'Critical Institutionalism' and explains how adaptation finance leads to institutional change and continuity accounting for power, uncertainty, social embeddedness, and relationships between formal and informal institutions. The second frame is science-policy studies and investigates how 'technical' knowledge is shaped by certain social and political commitments and shapes the practices of power in turn. A critical and relational perspective allows to recognize that adaptation and its finance should be understood as a relational process, rather than as a technical outcome, to make sense of the process through which new adaptation initiatives operate. The research will investigate these issues in urban areas of the Global South also including Hanoi and Manila. A content analysis of relevant documents produced by climate funders, policy-makers, practice organizations, and different government levels will be combined with semi-structured interviews with representatives of these organizations and agencies in order to have an internal and in-depth view of these institutional mechanisms.
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Short Abstract:
This panel invites papers that critically examine the extent to which finance of climate change adaptation is devolved national to local government level and political economy of local government implementation of climate change adaptation support.
Long Abstract:
Since the Paris Agreement in 2015, adaptation debates have increasingly shifted from focusing narrowly on finance to considerations around governance of programming, implementation and impact of support for climate change mitigation and adaptation. The character of finance for climate change adaptation and debates around it are currently in a time of potentially significant transition. Much focus of COP negotiations has been on agreeing on a common rulebook and on ensuring Global South access to finance for Climate Change Action. These goals have now by and large been reached and international attention is now shifting to how and at what scale climate change actions take place and are governed.
How finance is shared between mitigation and adaptation and between middle income countries and LDCs is highly skewed with most going to mitigation in middle-income countries, while 41% of finance to Least Developed Countries in 2018 was focused on adaptation objectives, representing 6% of total climate change finance (OECD 2020). Initial studies indicate that the vast majority of finance for climate change adaptation in Least Developed Countries is currently used and governed at international and national levels. We lack, however, robust national-level data. The Panel invite papers with trustworthy data on the extent to which finance for adaptation is devolved, i.e., governed and used at central ministry or at sub-national levels.
The panel argue that devolved governance of climate change adaptation leads to a less skewed spatial distribution of financial resources, although devolution alone may not alleviate political conflict and produce solutions that are better tailored to local conditions. Few studies have focused on the political economy of climate change adaptation at local government level and fieldwork-based research is needed fill this knowledge gap. The panel invite papers on the political economy of local government implementation of climate change adaptation support.
Methodology
The panel will select 3-5 panelists who each will contribute a paper (between 1,200 and 1,800 words, excluding references) and a pre-recorded presentation (between 8-12 minutes). All panelists and participants will be asked to read the papers prior to the conference. In the first 20 minutes the convenors will outline the key questions raised by the papers and presentations. Then, each presenter will give a 2min pitch summarising their key argument and another 2min to address one of the key questions raised by the convenor. After this follows 20 minutes open discussion among the audience and panelists with convenors’ moderation. Participants will be asked to limit interventions to 2-3 minutes.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Wednesday 6 July, 2022, -