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Who leads, who lags? : Inter-urban inequities in European climate adaptation funding and financing

Venner, Kayin ; Olazabal, Marta ; García-Lamarca, Melissa LU orcid ; Treville, Aldo ; Arbau, Luca Costantino and Bertoldi, Paolo (2025) In Environmental Research Letters 20(7).
Abstract

Despite increased attention to climate finance in urban adaptation, empirical data on the socio-political processes shaping funding accessibility, allocation, and their implications for inter-urban adaptation progress remains limited. In a first-of-its-kind survey, we analyse results from 148 urban administrations across 17 EU countries. Our results reveal widespread funding shortages (>85% of administrations), insufficient staff capacity (73%) and low levels of political support (43%). Additionally, we find limited participation of vulnerable groups and inadequate consideration of climate risks and vulnerability when allocating resources. Towns lag behind cities, and Southern Europe lags behind Northern Europe in funding adaptation... (More)

Despite increased attention to climate finance in urban adaptation, empirical data on the socio-political processes shaping funding accessibility, allocation, and their implications for inter-urban adaptation progress remains limited. In a first-of-its-kind survey, we analyse results from 148 urban administrations across 17 EU countries. Our results reveal widespread funding shortages (>85% of administrations), insufficient staff capacity (73%) and low levels of political support (43%). Additionally, we find limited participation of vulnerable groups and inadequate consideration of climate risks and vulnerability when allocating resources. Towns lag behind cities, and Southern Europe lags behind Northern Europe in funding adaptation measures. Notably, higher climate risk levels are not associated with easier access to funding sources or increased funding availability. With reliance on public funding over loans, we nuance the role of financialisation in urban climate governance and propose cohesive adaptation as a finance strategy towards more equitable policy and practice.

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
adaptation finance, adaptation progress, inter-urban equity, municipal finance, urban climate adaptation
in
Environmental Research Letters
volume
20
issue
7
article number
074061
publisher
IOP Publishing
external identifiers
  • scopus:105009048702
ISSN
1748-9326
DOI
10.1088/1748-9326/adde71
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.
id
78836f5f-6c9f-4ca3-89a7-8fc586b3a5ae
date added to LUP
2025-08-18 08:20:53
date last changed
2025-08-21 11:26:34
@article{78836f5f-6c9f-4ca3-89a7-8fc586b3a5ae,
  abstract     = {{<p>Despite increased attention to climate finance in urban adaptation, empirical data on the socio-political processes shaping funding accessibility, allocation, and their implications for inter-urban adaptation progress remains limited. In a first-of-its-kind survey, we analyse results from 148 urban administrations across 17 EU countries. Our results reveal widespread funding shortages (&gt;85% of administrations), insufficient staff capacity (73%) and low levels of political support (43%). Additionally, we find limited participation of vulnerable groups and inadequate consideration of climate risks and vulnerability when allocating resources. Towns lag behind cities, and Southern Europe lags behind Northern Europe in funding adaptation measures. Notably, higher climate risk levels are not associated with easier access to funding sources or increased funding availability. With reliance on public funding over loans, we nuance the role of financialisation in urban climate governance and propose cohesive adaptation as a finance strategy towards more equitable policy and practice.</p>}},
  author       = {{Venner, Kayin and Olazabal, Marta and García-Lamarca, Melissa and Treville, Aldo and Arbau, Luca Costantino and Bertoldi, Paolo}},
  issn         = {{1748-9326}},
  keywords     = {{adaptation finance; adaptation progress; inter-urban equity; municipal finance; urban climate adaptation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  number       = {{7}},
  publisher    = {{IOP Publishing}},
  series       = {{Environmental Research Letters}},
  title        = {{Who leads, who lags? : Inter-urban inequities in European climate adaptation funding and financing}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/adde71}},
  doi          = {{10.1088/1748-9326/adde71}},
  volume       = {{20}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}