Leveraging Public Finance for Coastal Adaptation

Coastal adaptation investment presents clear opportunities for social welfare improvements, particularly for densely populated areas with high levels of economic activity. This policy brief, Leveraging Public Finance for Coastal Adaptation, provides insights into several mechanisms for leveraging public finance of coastal adaptation. Leveraging public finance refers to achieving increased outputs with the same amount of public investment. Given constraints on public finance, leveraging public finance is increasingly important for achieving coastal adaptation. Promising mechanisms for leveraging public investments in coastal adaptation include generating market revenues or increasing tax revenue through projects that produce co-benefits such as new land or improved environmental quality. A further mechanism for leveraging public investments is through long-term contracting of the private sector, which can improve the efficiency of adaptation project delivery. Each mechanism is illustrated through an example analysed in the GREEN-WIN project.