Term of the Week - Adaption Economy

From GreenBiz:

"The amount spent on climate adaptation and resilience is on the rise, researchers have found, with the so-called "adaptation economy" maintaining steady growth in many cities throughout the global recession.

In a new paper, published Monday in the journal Nature, scientists from University College London found the total worldwide spend on adaptation hit $316 billion in 2014-2015, despite that policy focus has been directed only towards climate adaptation efforts relatively recently.

However, while a multibillion dollar market opportunity sounds impressive, the study was quick to note the figure still only translates to less than half a percent of global GDP.

The researchers used government statistics to produce a figure that combines public and private sector spending across different areas of the world in an effort to give as complete an overview as possible of the "adaptation economy" — data which is not always readily available to businesses or policymakers.

It also focused on climate adaptation spending in 10 of the world's megacities, including London, New York, Beijing and Lagos, as a means of highlighting the particular risks and opportunities urban areas face as they attempt to strengthen their climate resilience."