Read Donna Lyndsay’s first blog since taking up the post as Space4Climate’s Interim Climate Services Development Manager
By Donna Lyndsay, Space4Climate’s Interim Climate Services Development Manager
Climate Adaptation measures are a familiar and fundamental pathway to addressing the impacts of climate change, but a new research paper recommends also the use of early and strategic adaptation investments to bolster economic stability, reduce debt levels and borrowing costs, and accelerate development.
To do this, trusted Earth Observation data is essential to underpin investment decision-making with reliable scientific evidence – something that is not mentioned in the paper.
‘The macroeconomic case for investing in climate adaptation’ (pub. April 15th, 2026) is a new synthesis of economic and fiscal risks arising from physical climate change and the economic case for investing in adaptation to climate impacts.
The report, from the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change & the Environment at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), brings together results of nearly 300 studies and more than 6,000 unique estimates of the consequences of climate change and adaptation investment. It was funded by the Gates Foundation.
The report states: “The macroeconomic impacts of climate change are difficult to quantify accurately but are already significant, and they are growing rapidly,” and looks at 85 models of the impacts of local temperature change and sea level rise on economic growth and features case studies from six countries: UK, Bangladesh, Brazil, Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda.
The paper does not explicitly mention EO and satellite data, but it does discuss support for early warnings, emissions tracking and progress to net zero, while also identifying key data gaps that must be addressed to strengthen climate services and decision‑making.
Earth Observation and space‑based climate data are critical to climate action.
They provide the consistent, global evidence needed to understand climate change, improve forecasts, manage risks, and inform policy. However, its essential use in calculations is often under reported; it’s just expected that it will always be there.
The report shows that the macroeconomic and fiscal consequences of climate impacts are still difficult to quantify accurately but are already significant, growing, and likely to continue and intensify without further efforts to adapt and increase resilience.
To do that, we must make sure the investment case is clear, including for Earth Observation.
Paper authors:
James Rising, Associate Professor at the University of Delaware and a Visiting Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
Nick Godfrey, Distinguished Policy Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and a member of the Global Impact Group at the Global School of Sustainability at LSE.
Paul Watkiss, Paul Watkiss Associates, an independent research group.
Swenja Surminski, Professor in Practice at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
Daniela Baeza Breinbauer, PhD student at the London School of Economics and Political Science studying physical climate risk.
Maria Paula Gutiérrez-Hurtado, Research Assistant at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
Maria João Pimenta, Policy Analyst and Research Adviser to Nicholas Stern at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
Paper ref: Rising J et al. (2026) The macroeconomic case for investing in climate adaptation. London: Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science. DOI: 10.21953/researchonline.lse.ac.uk.00137972
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