Incorporating cross-sectoral effects into analysis of the cost-effectiveness of climate change adaptation measures

By their sheer size, adaptation investments are processes addressing multiple climate impacts at the same time. Nevertheless, cross-sectoral effects of adaptation measures are rarely taken into consideration in adaptation costing and cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA). We explicitly address joint adaptation processes by focusing on inter- or intra-sectoral adaptation synergies within a cost-effectiveness framework. A software tool – CrossAdapt - has been developed in order to quantify cross-sectoral adaptation impacts based on expert judgement. Our research shows that the calculation of cross-sectoral impacts and their integration into cost-effectiveness analysis can significantly affect the cost-effectiveness ranking of adaptation measures. Future European adaptation strategies can benefit from the analytical possibility of estimating net adaptation costs based on CrossAdapt. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015