Funding rules that promote equity in climate adaptation outcomes

Area of Science:

• Environmental policy analysis
• Climate change adaptation
• Social equity in environmental justice

Background:

• Climate policies increasingly aim to improve equity, often by directing resources to "disadvantaged" areas.
• The Justice40 Initiative in the U.S. mandates federal programs to prioritize investments in "disadvantaged" census tracts.
• A discrepancy exists between individual-based equity definitions and spatially coarse policy implementation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the Justice40 Initiative's spatially coarse approach in achieving equity in climate adaptation outcomes for individuals.
• To compare the Justice40 approach with household-risk-based funding strategies for climate adaptation investments.

Main Methods:

• Case study analysis of a municipality experiencing repetitive flooding and limited resources.
• Evaluation of Federal Emergency Management Agency's implementation of the Justice40 Initiative.
• Development and comparison of household risk-burden-based funding rules against Justice40 criteria.

Main Results:

• The Justice40 Initiative's implementation in the case study did not reduce flood risk for the most burdened households or decrease risk inequality.
• Justice40 implementation resulted in net costs, failing to effectively promote equity in household flood-risk outcomes.
• Household risk-burden-based funding rules proved cost-effective, targeting burdened households, reducing inequality, and yielding significant net benefits.

Conclusions:

• Spatially coarse "disadvantaged community" indicators risk misidentifying climate risks and can be ineffective for achieving climate investment equity promises.
• Policies must align spatial scales of analysis with the distribution of climate risks and burdens to effectively promote equity.
• Household-level data and risk-burden targeting offer a more equitable and cost-effective approach to climate adaptation funding.