Research collaboration on closing the adaptation finance gap receives funding from UKRI-Defra
LSE’s Grantham Research Institute and partners will lead work through the ATTENUATE project to develop a vital climate adaptation finance framework for the UK. The UK currently faces a significant gap between the cost of adapting to climate change and the level of finance available. The ATTENUATE project will pioneer new approaches to financing adaptation, working in close collaboration with public and private sector partners across three case studies: UK Government (HM Treasury and Defra), the West Midlands and the London Borough of Hackney.
ATTENUATE – ‘Creating the enabling conditions for UK climate adaptation investment’ – is an exciting collaboration between the Grantham Research Institute, the Environment Agency, the Green Finance Institute, Love Design Studio, Paul Watkiss Associates and the University of Bath. It is funded by the UKRI-Defra ‘Maximising UK Adaptation to Climate Change’ programme.
The project focuses on enhancing enabling conditions to increase public and private finance for climate adaptation by addressing barriers in UK governance. It aims to (1) generate economic evidence on the costs and benefits of adaptation policies, (2) assess how government can leverage enabling environments for finance mobilisation, and (3) identify and tackle behavioural barriers to investment in adaptation. The £1.97 million project runs for 30 months between March 2025 and September 2027. The project has a strong emphasis on co-creation, working with the public and private sectors to address barriers to investment and unlock new opportunities for adaptation finance.
Project results will feed into future UK Climate Change Risk Assessments, the National Adaptation Programme (NAP), Local Climate Strategies, and others. The project will also enhance broader UK climate adaptation efforts through collaboration with the Maximising Adaptation to Climate Change Hub and contribute to the Institute’s wider work to influence climate adaptation in the UK and internationally.
ATTENUATE will strengthen the Institute’s expertise in its core topic ‘Climate change impacts and resilience‘ and will make a crucial contribution to ‘Financing a better future‘. The collaboration between the partners will help unlock enhanced levels of engagement with UK stakeholders towards building new transdisciplinary knowledge for UK climate adaptation.
This grant award was received by: Candice Howarth, Distinguished Policy Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute, LSE (Project Lead), Anna Beswick, Policy Fellow, Grantham Research Institute (Project Co-Lead), Kate Gannon, Research Fellow, Grantham Research Institute (Project Co-Lead), Sara Mehryar, Research Fellow, Grantham Research Institute (Research Co-Lead), Katie Spooner, Environment Agency (Project Co-Lead), Ingrid Holmes, Green Finance Institute (Project Co-Lead), Andy Love, Love Design Studio (Project Co-Lead), Kit England, Paul Watkiss Associates (Project Co-Lead), Paul Watkiss, Paul Watkiss Associates (Research and Innovation Associate), Alistair Hunt, University of Bath (Project Co-Lead), and Francisco de Melo Viríssimo.