Rethinking from other shores: Climate adaptation finance in coastal cities: A climate justice and gender approach in the Caribbean and Colombian Pacific.
(2025) In IIIEE Master Thesis IMEM02 20251The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics
- Abstract
- In the face of growing criticism of traditional climate adaptation financing mechanisms that often reproduce technocratic approaches and risk entrenching inequalities, this research explores how climate justice, gender equity, and locally-led adaptation can be integrated into adaptation finance in subnational contexts. Analysing case studies from the coastal cities of Cartagena and Buenaventura, in the Colombian Caribbean and Pacific, respectively, this thesis seeks to answer how these notions can be translated into concrete elements within the processes of financial allocation and distribution, and what factors define their adoption by local governments. To this end, an analytical framework was developed based on academic literature and... (More)
- In the face of growing criticism of traditional climate adaptation financing mechanisms that often reproduce technocratic approaches and risk entrenching inequalities, this research explores how climate justice, gender equity, and locally-led adaptation can be integrated into adaptation finance in subnational contexts. Analysing case studies from the coastal cities of Cartagena and Buenaventura, in the Colombian Caribbean and Pacific, respectively, this thesis seeks to answer how these notions can be translated into concrete elements within the processes of financial allocation and distribution, and what factors define their adoption by local governments. To this end, an analytical framework was developed based on academic literature and seven interviews with experts, structured in thirteen elements clustered in five dimensions (Purpose value and vision; finance; organizational structure and governance; community, society, and environment; economics and resources management). The study adopts a qualitative approach with a case-oriented research design, combining semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis, to capture the complexity of climate adaptation financing and empirically evaluate the integration of the selected approaches. The results show that, while there are emerging efforts to incorporate the principles of climate justice, current regulatory frameworks and institutional practices still reflect a limited and fragmented implementation. Cartagena presents a relative advance in terms of environmental political architecture, while Buenaventura stands out for community forms of resilience and social cohesion. However, structural barriers persist in both contexts, such as weak governance, the lack of safe spaces for the transition to resilient economic models, and the absence of adequate state guarantees for the transformative implementation of financing. At the same time, drivers such as territorial rootedness, awareness of rights, and social self-organisation emerge as key drivers towards climate justice. This thesis concludes that the transformation of adaptation finance requires more than technical adjustments: it demands a paradigmatic shift that recognizes the multiple layers of exclusion that are present in both case studies. The proposed framework offers a practical and critical tool for both the evaluation and design of public policies and projects for adaptation that are more coherent with principles of equity, decoloniality, and transformative resilience. It also opens new routes for comparative research that investigates the adaptation of the framework to other territories and contexts, fostering synergies between state and non-state actors towards a fairer and more inclusive transition. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9208759
- author
- Medina Forero, Ana LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- Climate adaptation finance in coastal cities: A climate justice and gender approach in the Caribbean and Colombian Pacific.
- course
- IMEM02 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Gender approach, climate justice, intersectionality, climate adaptation finance, local adaptation.
- publication/series
- IIIEE Master Thesis
- report number
- 2025:28
- ISSN
- 1401-9191
- language
- English
- id
- 9208759
- date added to LUP
- 2025-07-15 09:42:41
- date last changed
- 2025-07-15 09:42:41
@misc{9208759,
abstract = {{In the face of growing criticism of traditional climate adaptation financing mechanisms that often reproduce technocratic approaches and risk entrenching inequalities, this research explores how climate justice, gender equity, and locally-led adaptation can be integrated into adaptation finance in subnational contexts. Analysing case studies from the coastal cities of Cartagena and Buenaventura, in the Colombian Caribbean and Pacific, respectively, this thesis seeks to answer how these notions can be translated into concrete elements within the processes of financial allocation and distribution, and what factors define their adoption by local governments. To this end, an analytical framework was developed based on academic literature and seven interviews with experts, structured in thirteen elements clustered in five dimensions (Purpose value and vision; finance; organizational structure and governance; community, society, and environment; economics and resources management). The study adopts a qualitative approach with a case-oriented research design, combining semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis, to capture the complexity of climate adaptation financing and empirically evaluate the integration of the selected approaches. The results show that, while there are emerging efforts to incorporate the principles of climate justice, current regulatory frameworks and institutional practices still reflect a limited and fragmented implementation. Cartagena presents a relative advance in terms of environmental political architecture, while Buenaventura stands out for community forms of resilience and social cohesion. However, structural barriers persist in both contexts, such as weak governance, the lack of safe spaces for the transition to resilient economic models, and the absence of adequate state guarantees for the transformative implementation of financing. At the same time, drivers such as territorial rootedness, awareness of rights, and social self-organisation emerge as key drivers towards climate justice. This thesis concludes that the transformation of adaptation finance requires more than technical adjustments: it demands a paradigmatic shift that recognizes the multiple layers of exclusion that are present in both case studies. The proposed framework offers a practical and critical tool for both the evaluation and design of public policies and projects for adaptation that are more coherent with principles of equity, decoloniality, and transformative resilience. It also opens new routes for comparative research that investigates the adaptation of the framework to other territories and contexts, fostering synergies between state and non-state actors towards a fairer and more inclusive transition.}},
author = {{Medina Forero, Ana}},
issn = {{1401-9191}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
series = {{IIIEE Master Thesis}},
title = {{Rethinking from other shores: Climate adaptation finance in coastal cities: A climate justice and gender approach in the Caribbean and Colombian Pacific.}},
year = {{2025}},
}