Differences in government support for private sector climate change adaptation in developing versus developed countries

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The urgent need for adaptation to existing and emerging impacts of climate change in both the public and private sectors raises a substantial challenge for governance because governmental interventions may either support or hinder climate responses by local communities and private actors. There are, however, few established guidelines and little empirical evidence for how such support can be most effective. To better understand the role of government support to private actors in climate change adaptation, we interviewed 231 Asian-Pacific coral reef tourism operators from eight countries who faced impacts from coral bleaching and tropical cyclones. Predictably, operators with greater access to coral reef-related policymakers received more support. In addition to presenting and evaluating alternative adaptation support options for coral reef tourism, our findings provide novel evidence against the hypothesis that people in developing countries have less access to adaptation support. Instead, our results favour the hypothesis that the enabling environment for adaptation is weaker in such countries, suggesting a clear need for long-term programs that provide information, regulatory, and other forms of institutional support for enabling climate change adaptation.
Original languageEnglish
Article number20
Number of pages9
Journalnpj Climate Action
Volume5
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 10 Feb 2026

Funding

FundersFunder number
ARC Australian Research Council DE190101583

    UN SDGs

    This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

    1. SDG 1 - No Poverty
      SDG 1 No Poverty
    2. SDG 13 - Climate Action
      SDG 13 Climate Action

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