Chapter 6. Emerging consequences of COVID-19 on adaptation planning and finance - Adaptation Gap Report 2021: The Gathering Storm - Adapting to Climate Change in a Post-pandemic World

This chapter aims to synthesize the literature that describes how COVID-19 has impacted country-level “adaptive capacity” (see the glossary for a definition and discussion below) and identifies emerging opportunities for policymakers and decision makers to improve their responses to both the health and climate crises. For instance, the significant fiscal spending on the health emergency, welfare payments and economic recovery may make ongoing spending on measures to increase preparedness for climate hazards more challenging for some governments. However, it also presents an opportunity to invest in programmes and policies that enable governments to “build forward better”.