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Designing a funding framework for the slow-onset impacts of climate change: insights from recent experiences with coastal retreat

Effective management of slow-onset impacts such as coastal erosion, desertification and sea level rise and their often-transformative impacts on communities and countries has remained relatively unexplored in terms of policy and finance responses. Drawing on relevant global experience, this paper investigates recent approaches to planned relocation as one possible response to climate change impacts and considers principles to inform the design of a fair and effective funding system. Relevant principles include minimizing long-term societal costs, pursuing inter generational equity, integrating funding with broader sustainable development objectives and ensuring a high degree of transparency and accountability for the use of public funds.