econCCadapt - Economics of Climate Change Adaptation: Integrated economic modeling and institutional analysis at different scale levels
Background and Goals
The project aims to assess possible economic consequences of climate change and alternative adaptation strategies for Germany and for certain focus regions (one coastal and one riverine region) by means of economic modelling. New insights into the distribution of costs and the benefits of climate adaptation will be gained and institutional conditions of the adaptation process will be examined.
The project will thus provide economic data for the further development of the German Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change. Moreover, institutions enabling climate adaptation policies will be investigated. In brief, the triad consisting of economic modelling, cost-benefit analysis and institutional analysis should provide insights in adaptation policy focusing on diverse economic sectors and different scale levels: from regional case studies to a national level.
Beside the policy oriented research the project’s objective lies also in an extension of economic methods and an integration of three different economic approaches: firstly by extending the economic modelling methodologies, secondly by an application of institutional economics to climate adaptation policy and finally by an extension of cost-benefit analysis by innovative valuation approaches. Last but not least the project intends to deepen economic research by an integration of the macroeconomic modelling, institutional economics and valuation theories.
Content time
toResearch area/region
Country
- Germany
Region of implementation (all German federal states)
- Baden-Württemberg
- Bavaria
- Berlin
- Brandenburg
- Bremen
- Hamburg
- Hesse
- Mecklenburg Western Pomerania
- Lower Saxony
- Northrhine-Westphalia
- Rhineland Palatinate
- Saarland
- Saxony
- Saxony-Anhalt
- Schleswig-Holstein
- Thuringia
Natural spatial classification
- North-West German lowland
- West German lowland bay
Steps in the process of adaptation to climate change
Step 1: Understand and describe climate change
Approach and results
No climate scenarios have been developed. Instead a working document has been developed, in which the state of knowledge on regional climate scenarios is reviewed and critically discussed
Step 2a: Identify and assess risks - climate effects and impact
Approach and results
In order to analyze potential climate change impacts, information on climate change are provided within the project cross-sectoral. Using data from the regional database of the Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy and the Federal Institute of Hydrology local communities have been identified which are:
- mainly located in flood-prone areas
- particularly vulnerable for heat waves due to a higher number of elderly people;
- vulnerable for storm and heavy rain due to the infrastructure.
Based on this, a selection of about 30 most vulnerable communities had been made and short case studies had been performed for each of them. It is intended to figure out the influence of the type of climate hazards on the decision-making of local actors, resp. whether and how they organize to adapt to climate change. Therefore, local communities exposed to certain hazards have been investigated. Comprehensive results across all communities will then be ascertained with the "Qualitative Comparative Analysis" (QCA) method.
Step 3: Develop and compare measures
Measures and/or strategies
The project’s goal is to provide economic and socio-ecological knowledge in order to enhance the further elaboration of the German Strategy for Adaption to Climate Change considering process and implementation aspects. A shortlist of local communities had been made to perform short case studies for each of them.
Ideally these case studies should cover both regulatory and further approaches of local adaptations climate change. This shall enable a more sophisticated understanding of the arguments and considerations that led to certain forms of adaptation in each case study.
More time information and explanations
up to 2050 and beyond: for macro-econometric modelling
Step 4: Plan and implement measures
Costs of the measures
The core of this project is to model the economic impacts of climate change, including the corresponding adaptation strategies in Germany and to analyze the distribution of the corresponding costs and benefits. A working paper will be produced to provide an overview regarding the state of research on the costs and benefits of climate impacts and adaptation measures in Germany.
Participants
Funding / Financing
This project is funded through the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research’s (BMBF) Program "Economics of Climate Change"
Project management
Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW), Berlin (Germany)
Cooperation/Partners
Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture, Division of Resource Economics;
GWS - Institute of Economic Structures Research (GWS), Osnabrück
Contact
Institut für ökologische Wirtschaftsforschung (IÖW)
Forschungsfeld Umweltökonomie und Umweltpolitik
Potsdamerstraße 105
10785 Berlin
