Status and Challenges of Climate Change Adaptation Measures:

Policy Perspectives for Reducing Inequalities in Adaptive Capacity

Abstract

With climate change impacts apparent in many parts of the world there is a need for changes in the society to adapt to climate change. This paper reviews recent empirical climate-economy studies to identify obstacles to adaptation behavior as well as to debate necessary conditions for correcting inequalities in adaptive capacity. We assess four mechanisms that hinder incentives for adaptation behavior: income inequality, risk perception, subsidies and moral hazard, and trade-offs with the current technologies and structure of production.