Getting private investment in adaptation to work: Effective adaptation, value, and cash flows

Private finance can contribute to the achievement of systemic climate adaptation. But the research community are yet to provide a framework for private investors and borrowers to assess the commercial viability of investments in adaptation. To date, investment cases have not been constructed with climate adaptation as the underlying investment logic -no framework explains how adaptation creates value and converts to cash flows. Instead cases are made as standard equity, debt or loan investments in climate vulnerable contexts, or as poorly specified climate resilience or adaptation solutions. Such specialisms and experiences are present within the public sector adaptation evaluation community, but they typically have few means to communicate with private investors and private adapting entities. This perspective sets out how private investments in adaptation generates value and cash flows that can be applied in investment cases to guide investors and those seeking to raise capital. First it sets out the conceptual and practical linkages between effective adaptation, value and cash flows. It then shows the importance of cash flows when formulating basic financial asset pricing methods, using examples of intangible assets for equity and fair value for debt-based instruments.