Global Adaptation Leaders Unveil Index to Help Private, Public Sectors Prioritize Investments in Adaptation

Ranking Shows Where The Greatest Impact can be made for Saving Lives, Improving Livelihoods

WASHINGTON,  Sept. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Leaders in the global effort to adapt to the massive forces changing our world unveiled this week an unprecedented tool: the first country ranking intended to guide policy and private sector capital to have the greatest adaptation impact.

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The Global Adaptation Index™ ("GaIn™") is a response to the various challenges of sustainable development including climate change, population growth and economic development. It was developed as a navigation tool to help prioritize and measure progress in adapting to climate change and other global forces, and is online at gain.globalai.org.

"We believe that by creating the right incentives while expanding our knowledge and understanding of the need for adaptation, we can save lives and improve the livelihoods of people around the world," said Jose Maria Aznar, Former President of Spain and Chairman of the Global Adaptation Institute Council of Advisors. "I believe that GaIn will become a natural navigation chart for both the private and public sectors."

GaIn looks at 15 years of data and finds:

• The United States has lost ground over the past fifteen years. Corrected for GDP, the United States in 2010 ranks 53rd out of 161 countries. In terms of raw score, the United States ranked third in the world in 1995, but today has fallen to 8th. Its vulnerability has risen slightly; and, while its readiness did increase, it was significantly outpaced by several other countries.
• Major emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and Mexico) are making significant improvements, both decreasing their vulnerabilities and increasing their readiness. However, India remains vulnerable in its agriculture and food sectors; China must confront strains on its water resources and lacks infrastructure to access internal markets; and South Africa's highly vulnerable health sector drains human resources from innovation. In all these countries, governance and corruption continue to negatively impact readiness.
• Among key outliers identified by GaIn, Uruguay and Chile are middle-income countries doing better than expected, and Kyrgyzstan is a Least Developed Country exceeding expectations for both readiness and vulnerability.

Dr. Juan Jose Daboub, founding CEO of the Global Adaptation Institute and former Managing Director of the World Bank, said, "With GaIn we can measure the vulnerability and readiness of many countries and what needs to take place to adapt. The Index is the only tool in the world that has brought together both concepts of vulnerability and readiness in a unique manner."

GaIn specifically seeks to guide private sector engagement in adaptation, but can also assist governments, NGOs and international institutions in determining what actions and policies will promote and facilitate these investments. It is hoped that GaIn will be a tool used for illuminating the challenges, and identifying the most impactful areas for action.

"GaIn is a groundbreaking tool that will guide capital to the sectors and countries where meaningful impact can be made in the area of adaptation," said Kenneth Hersh, CEO of NGP Energy Capital Management and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Global Adaptation Institute.

The Global Adaptation Institute developed GaIn in consultation with its international Council of Scientific Advisors. It has undergone peer review and has been the subject of consultative conversations with leading thinkers worldwide, including consultative convenings at Brookings, the Carnegie Endowment, the Heritage Foundation and the World Resources Institute. The Global Adaptation Institute™ is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)3 organization founded in 2010 and guided by a vision of building resilience to climate change and other global forces as a key component to sustainable development.

SOURCE Global Adaptation Institute