Climate Adaptation Funding Reveals Cross-Scale Inequity Patterns

New research on Germany's adaptation funding scheme (DAS) reveals a troubling pattern that transcends national boundaries: socioeconomic factors—not climate vulnerability—drive resource allocation. Urban areas with higher education levels and political support receive disproportionate funding while rural communities face growing exposure. This pattern emerges simultaneously at multiple scales, from European research to Washington state's lawsuit against the Trump administration for withholding $9 million in adaptation funding from tribal and coastal communities.